


Mermaids Do Exist!

by TheOtherXOPrincess



Series: A Change In The Sea [2]
Category: Glee
Genre: Bisexual Dani, Bisexual Elliott, Fantasy, Klaine-centered, Multi, Other gleeks are still important, Selkies-Freeform, mermaid-freeform, powers, slightly AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:55:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 45,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22817368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOtherXOPrincess/pseuds/TheOtherXOPrincess
Summary: Sequel of "Mermaids Don't Exist!". After Sebastian is defeated, the NDs accidently find out about Kurt and Blaine and are dragged into a new world they didn’t know existed. The boys and Kurt's mom’s friends desperately try to teach the gleeks how to handle their new lives and powers, and especially how to keep the secret. Easier said than done after mad scientists, ancient mermaid magic, vicious mermaid hunters and mysterious selkies make their appearances. How can they handle all that AND ordinary problems? And they thought high school was hard...
Relationships: Blaine Anderson & Kurt Hummel, Blaine Anderson & Sam Evans, Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel, Dani/Elliott "Starchild" Gilbert, Dani/Santana Lopez, Mike Chang/Tina Cohen-Chang, Quinn Fabray/Noah Puckerman, Rachel Berry/Brody Weston, Rachel Berry/Finn Hudson, Sam Evans/Mercedes Jones, Santana Lopez/Brittany S. Pierce
Series: A Change In The Sea [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1632367
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back again! I have so many plans with this sequel and unlike my other fanfic, I'm still working on it, so please don't be disappointed that I can't upload many chapters at once anymore. Like my previous story, it won't be completely AU because I don't want to rewrite the whole series, but I will change a few things (like Finn's death, he probably won't die because that totally sucked and I cried for months). I hope you will like it...
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I still don't own anthing.

**Previously on "Mermaids Don't exist!":**

"[...]Him and Blaine are always heading to the beach and then they just disappear to god know where!" [...]"Are you talking about that weird behavior of my white boy? God, I thought I was the only one noticing it. Since that sleepover back then, I noticed that something is very wrong with boo"[...] "Artie and I created a dope app where you can track down all of your friends' phones in no time, without them noticing."[...]"According to my laptop, Kurt and Blaine are both on that island where we did that midnight hiking last year."[...] "Gather your stuff, we're heading to that island your stuff, we're heading to that island again."[...]""Santana? Rachel, Mercedes, Finn, Puck, Artie and Mike are going to a rescue mission to find Kurtsie and his hobbit boyfriend. Can we join them?"[...]"I want answers, and I want them now! We didn't get them when the New Direction gang and I were freaking stalking you yesterday and fell into that creepy, blue lake! I'm beyond pissed because of that!"[...]And when all of the New Directions fell into the moon pool, then they will be affected too!" [...] "What do you wanna say, Hobbit, that I'm a mermaid now?!" "…well, probably?" [...] "Oh, shut the fuck up you two! I can't believe you're not man enough to tell me the fucking truth! I hate lies more than everything AND I'M SO GONNA GO ALL LIMA HEIGHTS ADJACENT ON YOUR ASSES RIGHT N-[...] AY DIOS MIO! Where the heck ARE MY LEGS?! I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS! LADY LIPS?! HOBBIT?!", Santana screamed as she horrifiedly stared at her newly acquired tailfin which was shimmering bright orange. Kurt and Blaine once again exchanged worried glances. [...] "Oh my gosh, Santana, you are a mermaid! Are you related to Ariel the mermaid? That's soo cool! Why didn't you tell me?", Brittany squealed delightedly. The newly turned mermaid struggled to stay afloat with her new body part. "Not now Britt, I'm kind of freaking out right now! I turned into a freaking fish!"

_-Now-_

"So, Santana… you believe us now? Mermaids do exist!", Kurt smirked. " Shut up and help me out of the water!", Santana screeched desperately. "Ehmmm…" The boys didn't move. Santana rolled her eyes. "What are you two waiting for? Man up and help me for God's sake!" "I will help you, San!", Brittany offered. "NO! Don't touch her, Brittany!", Kurt and Blaine shouted in unison. Santana shook her head. "Are you two OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MINDS?!" "You see, we can't get wet or we will all grow tails…", Blaine explained. "The heck?!"

"Wait, Blaine. Can I dry her?", Kurt asked after they somehow got Santana out of the water. "Do you remember what happened when you tried to dry the towel with your new powers? You burned it down!", Blaine reminded him and smiled at the memory. "Wait WHAT?! You never mentioned you got powers! Don't dare to even burn one tiny scale of mine, Porcelain, do you understand? I can't believe I just said that…" Santana shook her head. How was it possible her life went from normal to this within some minutes? "Let me handle it." Blaine carefully kneeled down and used his powers to dry off Santana's tail. "We still have to figure out why we suddenly have all these powers. We were about to, but then a certain person disturbed us -" "- Hold up. If you two have powers, what about the rest of us? Oh my gosh, how the hell did you get me my legs back, Blaine Warbler?! I want an explanation for all this shit, and I want it now!", Santana gasped as her legs reappeared. "Alright, Blaine can make things hot or even burn them down and turn invisible, I can freeze things and manipulate water. But since today, we acquired more powers without knowing why. Are you happy now, Satan?" "No, you didn't answer whether…wait…where is Britt? I haven't heard or seen her for I while now!", Santana wondered. Suddenly, they heard a splash and Brittany surfaced. "That was so cool! Have you seen my tailfin, Santana? Can we show Quinn and the others?", Brittany asked excitedly while swimming to the shallow water, showing off her shiny yellow tail. "Britt! Where were you? And why did you turn into a mermaid?", Santana wanted to know. "I accidently touched a wet rock when I was about to pet a seagull, then a felt a tingling sensation on my legs and fell into the water because I couldn't stand anymore. My fin glittered underwater and I went swimming with the fishies and even with a dolphin, that was a lot of fun! I was gone for about ten minutes and I didn't even need to come up for air!", Brittany beamed. "Stop joking around, Britt. Don't tell me you spent ten minutes underwater without needing to breathe! Last time you tried to hold your breath; you gave up after twenty seconds." Blaine shook his head. "She isn't lying, Santana. Kurt once spent more than six hours trapped in a pool and he didn't drown." Santana's eyes went wide. "Shut up! So Britt here is telling the truth?" "I mean we never really tried, but theoretically, we could spend half a day underwater.", Blaine theorized. "That's…that's…" Santana was at a loss of words. "Great, right? Being a merperson definitely has its perks. But it also has its price. We can't touch water without growing a tail, which is really inconvenient considering that we are surrounded by wet things constantly. Kurt and I needed to get used to that." "That's why Hummel's face was so unusually dry some months ago! And you, Anderson, stopped using hair gel for a while!", Santana reasoned. Kurt shrugged. "I will never know how Blaine applies hair gel without getting wet. Concerning my skin care routine, I continued doing that after a while. I don't care if I have to lie on my bed with my tail for hours until my face is dry again and risk getting caught by Finn or my parents, but my skin is one of my most precious things in my life!" "Alright, alright. What about the other guys? Shouldn't we warn them before they get the shocks of their lives after they turn into Ariels?", Santana asked. Blaine nodded. "Great idea, Santana! Let's head back to the hotel before they get the shocks of their lives"

Later that day, the ND's were gathered in Santana's and Brittany's spacious hotel room after Kurt sent an emergency text into the ND's What's App group. "What are we doing here, guys?", Tina asked and sat down on the king size bed. Kurt cleared his throat. "Santana and Brittany told us that you were stalking us yesterday. Blaine and I had a date and you disturbed us!" "You were the people with that picnic, right? But why did you have a date there?", Rachel wanted to know. "Because that was the place where our lives changed forever.", Blaine answered. Quinn groaned. "What do you mean by that? Just spit it out, I don't have time for that nonsense." "Did anyone of you notice some…weird things happening?", Kurt asked carefully. The others all went unusually quiet, avoiding each other's glances. Kurt cocked one eyebrow. So they all must have experienced the same thing. He exchanged a questioning glance with Blaine, who just nodded. Apparently, his boyfriend must've had the same thought. Eventually, Brittany broke the ice. "I did! I turned that water in that vase into jelly!", she deadpanned. Quinn turned to Brittany. "Wait, Britt, you did what?" "I don't know how I did it, but that is awesome! And Quinn, did I mention that Santana and I turned into mermaids?" "Britt! We shouldn't just break the news to them like that!", Santana said. Quinn shook her head. "Okay, that's it! I'm leaving now, you'll find me in the spa section of the resort. Talk to me if you are sane again." "Quinn, wait! Spa means water, right?", Blaine asked her. "You can't be around water like that, it's dangerous!", Kurt added. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe it! You are all starting to talk like Brittany, what's going on with you? THE HECK? Satan, why did you just splash me with your coke?!", Quinn screamed exasperatedly. Santana shrugged. "Sorry, Porcelain and Hobbit, couldn't wait any longer. Three, two, one…" Quinn cocked one eyebrow. "Why are you counting, Lopez?" Santana started smirking. "Showdown!" As if on cue, Quinn suddenly fell to the floor. The others gasped and Quinn's eyes went wide. "HOLY CRAP! What just happened to me?!", Quinn screamed as she stared down her soft red tail. Santana snorted with laughter. "That's too hilarious! Did you feel like that too when you turned me into a fish, Klaine?" Kurt shook his head. "I can't believe you find joy in others misfortune, but I shouldn't be surprised, Satan. Here, let me help you.", he said to Quinn, kneeling down next to her and balling his right hand into a fist and Quinn's tail started to get dryer. Blaine apprehensively looked down at them. "You are sure you can handle your powers, Kurt? I don't want you to hurt Quinn!" "I have to learn it eventually so why not start now?", Kurt answered. Quinn gaped at Kurt. "Wait, what? Powers? What are you doing? It's so hot…How is that possible? And why are my legs back now?", she asked, as she wiggled her toes. "We know you must have a lot of questions, that's why we invited some old friends to help us out.", Blaine said. There was a knock on the door and when Santana went to open the door, three middle aged women entered. Kurt hugged each one. "I'm so grateful you made it to this place that quickly!", he said. "I have my own advertising firm, Kurt darling, that means I also have my own jet.", Pamela laughed and clapped her hands. "Okay, kids, focus! I'm Pamela, and my friends over here are Gwen and Alice and we will give you a crash course on how to be a merperson." Finn started laughing. "You must be kidding, right? Did Kurt and Blaine pay you to be part of their prank or something? I have never heard of those friends of yours." Kurt glared at his stepbrother. "That's because they were my mom's best friends, Finn. They didn't make it to the wedding back then, so you probably see them for the first time." "And are you two also…mermaids?" Mercedes asked hesitantly. Pamela cocked one perfectly shaped eyebrow. "What do you think, Mercedes?" "And how do you know my name?" "We wanted to make sure Kurt has good friends, so we checked the backstories of everyone who befriended him. We know everything about you, and we won't hesitate to use that knowledge against you if necessary. But you know, we don't want to hurt you." Alice reassured the group. "It's the opposite: we are here to help you because your lives just got more complicated. From now on, every time you touch water, the same thing that happened to Quinn will happen to you. We kept that secret for generations, for centuries, now it's your turn to share a secret like that. But don't worry, we will help you through the first days, and after your holiday, you are in control of your powers-""-Whoa wait. We also have powers? Like, real powers?", Mike interrupted Gwen. Sam's eyes lit up. "That is so cool! My life just went from awkward to great!" "Guys stop it! Or do we need to splash you all so that you shut up?" Pamela threatened. Everyone went silent. "Good, that's better. Yes, in addition to a fishtail, you all gained powers which will help you to keep that secret a secret. Kurt, Blaine, Gwen, Pam and I figured out that you all gained more than one power, we are still trying to figure out why exactly. Normally, merpeople have one, maximum two powers. But you guys all have… so many more for whatever reason we don't know. Okay, now you can ask questions before we start with the training." "Training? Oh man, I hate that! I thought we were here to relax!", Puck whined. "Well, plans changed, Puck. Would you rather train with us or end up getting cut open by mad scientists? Cause that will happen if you don't know how to control your newly gained powers, young man.", Gwen deadpanned. Puck shuddered. "Okay, okay, I think I get it." "Good. Any questions?" "How is that possible?", Artie asked. Gwen shook her head. "Unfortunately, we don't know it yet, Artie. The moonpool where you landed in yesterday manipulated your genes and turned you into merpeople, but I still didn't figure out the theory behind that. I have studied medicine and natural sciences, so I tried to use my knowledge to solve that mystery for years, but I failed. There is no formula, no theorem which can explain what happened to us. In the end, I decided to let it be and accept that we are mermaids without knowing why exactly, simple as that." Rachel rose her hand. "Okay and what do we have for powers?" Pamela sighed. "We don't exactly have an answer for that, Rachel. We don't know what each one of you is able to do, but as far as I know, there will be one power which you will master more than others, because it is your primary power. For Kurt, its manipulating water and for Blaine it's boiling liquids. Gwen's is turning liquids into jelly, Alice's is growing and controlling plants and I have the control over electricity. We will figure out which will be the primary power of each of you, don't worry." Tina was next to ask a question. "Can we like…breathe underwater? Like Ariel?" "And can we talk to fish or crabs?", Brittany asked. Alice groaned. "Oh my gosh, why keeps everyone comparing us to that Disney movies made by clueless humans? No, Tina, we can't, and no, Brittany, we can't talk to fish or marine animals. We don't need to come up for air for a long time, though." "Think about whales for example. They live underwater entirely even if they can't breathe, they only breathe once or twice per day. I didn't test it, but I did some research where I found out that with the right training, you don't need to come up for air for a whole day. But guys, not having to breathe underwater for half a day is amazing enough so there is no need for that", Gwen explained. "Do you think there are sirens? Mermaids who can control others with their voices?", Rachel asked eagerly. Kurt paled and looked down. Luckily, nobody but Blaine, who reassuringly squeezed his hand, seemed to notice it. Pamela cocked her head to the side. "We never met one, but we think it's actually possible. But why do you want to know that, Rachel?" The brunette shrugged. "Just out of interest. Or maybe because I want to compel the professors at NYADA so that…" "RACHEL BARBRA BERRY! You will not abuse your powers like that, okay? We don't want to go through the whole thing like with Sebastian all over again…" "-Wait! Sebastian? As in Sebastian Smythe? _He_ is a merman?", Mercedes interrupted Pamela. " _Was_ , Aretha. Lady Lips told me you took away his powers or something like that.", Santana explained. "Yeah, something like that is right, but we won't go into detail because that's no option for you anytime soon. On top of that, we erased his memories permanently because his knowledge about us would be a threat to the whole mer-community." "You can do that?", Sam asked, astonished. "Yes, but it's pretty hard. It's an exhausting procedure which can be done in exceptional cases, we hope we don't have to do it ever again. Hopefully you guys are not like that Smythe kid, right?" "They aren't, Alice, I swear. I mean, Puck, Santana and Rachel are sometimes a bit…unbearable…" "We heard that, Lady! You made my list", Santana scoffed, "- but their hearts are on the right places!", Kurt finished his sentence. "Aww, I take that back, Hummel!" "We trust you, Kurt, that's why we also trust your friends. We noticed that you have each other's backs if necessary, we think everything is going to be alright. We don't want to forbid you to use your powers for you advantage because we also do that, but don't exaggerate. As long as nobody notices you using your powers or you don't harm anyone, you can always use your abilities to ease your everyday life." Pamela clapped her hands once again. "Now that question time is over, let's start with the training now, we only have four days before we have to fly back. Okay, lesson number one: How to not get wet in the first place!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back, guys! I'm so so sorry I didn't upload any new chapters for four days, but my phone wasn't working and I was on vacation this weekend without my tablet or laptop. But now, I'm back :D
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

After four days, Alice, Pamela and Gwen had to fly back to their homes. "Thank you for everything! I don't know what we would've done without your help", Kurt just said to the women. Him and Blaine had accompanied the elder mermaids to the airport and were about to part ways. "No problem, kid. You and your friends are really...special", Pamela smirked. "Yes, we are aware", Blaine laughed. Gwen frowned. "You guys need to be really careful, okay? I'm not quite sure but I think there must be a reason why you were all turned into mermaids." Kurt cocked one eyebrow. "Yes, because our so called friends didn't respect our privacy and followed us to the moonpool", he answered. "But it can't be coincidental that they fell into the moonpool on a full moon. The probability of that happening to a mere human is not even one percent", the doctor deadpanned. "So you think it was no coincidence that all of that happened?", Blaine asked. Gwen shook her head. Alice tugged her arm. "We really need to get going now or else we will miss our flight. We will find out why you have so many powers all of a sudden or why your friends changed in the first place", the strawberry blonde promised. The three women waved one last time at the boys before they went to the security control. Kurt and Blaine exchanged worried glances. They really needed to figure out why things turned out how they did.

After the airplane had taken off, the boys headed to the island of their moonpool, [near the waterfall](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b527c7331d4df98ef08f4ee/1532744300030-NEHFTMJ2NQKWHO0ZDOL5/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kLkXF2pIyv_F2eUT9F60jBl7gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z4YTzHvnKhyp6Da-NYroOW3ZGjoBKy3azqku80C789l0iyqMbMesKd95J-X4EagrgU9L3Sa3U8cogeb0tjXbfawd0urKshkc5MgdBeJmALQKw/_DSC9249.jpg). Rachel had sent a text into the group informing them they were training their powers there. The gleeks figured it was safer on the island because they were unseen and couldn't break things or accidently injure people with their abilities. When the boys arrived at the waterfall, their friends were already training. Quinn was about to heal a small wound on Tina's hand. "What happened?", Blaine asked the girls. "Artie accidently gave me an electro shock", Tina shrugged. "Sorry again", Artie, who was sitting on a tree trunk, mumbled bashfully. "It's okay. We all still need to learn how to control our powers. I also turn invisible every now and then without meaning to", Tina said sympathetically and patted his shoulder with her now fully healed hand. Kurt turned to Finn, who was standing next to him. "Still nothing?", he asked his brother. He shook his head. "Nope." By now, almost everyone had already discovered his or her primary power. Rachel could turn liquids into glass and shape or control it at will, Quinn had healing powers, Tina could turn invisible, even for hours, Brittany could turn liquids into jelly or make it sticky, Santana could turn liquids into rocks, control them and make the earth move, Mercedes could grow plants, manipulate them and let them flourish, Puck could turn liquids into metal and control it, Sam had the control over ice, Mike could manipulate light and create it, and Artie could control and create electricity. The gleeks were also able to manipulate the wind or use each other's primary powers, but not as good as the one who mastered it. Finn was the only one who hadn't yet discovered his primary power and couldn't use the others' powers either. "Don't worry, Finn. Gwen said that it could take longer for some people to discover their powers", Kurt tried to console his brother. "Kurt's right, baby", Rachel, who just appeared by his side, said and wrapped an arm around him. "We will find out what you are able to do, I promise" Finn smiled faintly. "Thanks, Rachel." He pecked his girlfriend's cheek. "Guys! You really need to see this!", Tina exclaimed from the other side of the lake. Santana, who just shattered a giganitc rock with a flick of her hand, rolled her eyes. "What is it, Cohen-Chang?", she asked, annoyed. Tina pointed to Artie, who accidently fell into the water. "Artie...he can... move his tail...", she said, stunned. Said boy flicked his apple green tail, speechless. The NDs were standing at their spots, just gaping at the boy for a while, not knowing what to say. "But how is it possible?", Rachel finally whispered, still flabbergasted. "We can ask Gwen", Quinn suggested. Finn nodded. "Yeah...let's do that", he agreed. "But until then...let's have a race, Abrams!", Puck said excitedly, quickly put off his shirt and jumped into the water next to Artie, his silver fin was splashing on the surface. The former paraplegic laughed. "I will definitely win, Puckerman!", he smirked before diving in. The others could see two figures speeding through the water before disappearing behind the waterfall. "Well...I really didn't see that one coming", Kurt vocalized what everyone was thinking.

"I can't believe you still have Sebastian's phone number and are texting him! Have you forgotten what he has done to us? I almost lost my powers because of him!", Kurt said angrily. When Blaine was in the bathroom, his phone vibrated nonstop. Kurt wanted to silence the device when the display of his phone showed the chestnut-haired boy a new text from Sebastian Smythe. He had confronted Blaine with it and the other boy confessed that he was still texting his ex. "Of course, I didn't forget what he has done to us, but I wanted to make sure he was fine after we wiped his memories about him being a merman because I kind of had a bad conscience. I just talked to him a couple of times, no big deal…" "No big deal? When did you want to tell me about that?", Kurt cut him off and crossed his arms. "What am I supposed to think when you still stay in touch with your ex? I have never been happier in my life when you became my boyfriend, Blaine, and I want it to work. But how can we achieve that if this horrible person still stands between us?" Blaine sighed deeply. "He doesn't and he never will, okay? It is ...wait, Kurt, where are you going?", he alarmedly asked when Kurt was about to leave their hotel room. "I have to get out of here and clear my head. Don't wait for me with dinner!" With that, the boy left the room. "Wait, what? Kurt, please come back so that we can talk about this! Kurt!" But Kurt was already gone.

Kurt ran out of the hotel room and left the resort. What was he going to do? The first thing he wanted was running to the beach, jumping into the sea and swimming away. But…He stopped in his tracks. If Blaine told the others about his disappearance, they would tear apart the sea in search of him and there was no way he could hide from twelve merpeople. So, he did the next thing that came into his mind: He turned around and ran straight to one of their rental cars.

Driving around helped him calm down a bit. Maybe he overreacted. But hadn't Blaine forgotten what Sebastian had done to them? Kurt shook his head as he remembered the six longest hours in his life when he was trapped in the pool or how he mixed the knockout-drops in his coffee. He would never forgive Sebastian, even if he would never remember what he had done to Kurt and his boyfriend. In order to distract himself, Kurt turned on the radio. _The one that got away_ by Katy Perry was playing and Kurt smiled a bit. This song was Blaine's favorite, after _Teenage Dream_ of course. His phone started beeping. Kurt pulled his phone out of his pocket, unlocked it and saw ten unread messages from Blaine.

_Blaine: Please come back_

_Blaine: I'm sorry, okay?_

_Blaine: Look, I even deleted Sebastian's number_

_Blaine: Come on, I even deleted the chat history now_

_Blaine: What else do I have to do for you?_

_Blaine: You know I love you, only you_

_Blaine: You are the love of my life, NOT Sebastian_

_Blaine: I miss you soooo much_ :( :( :(

_Blaine: Are you swimming now?_

_Blaine: An hour without you is like a year without rain…_

Kurt smiled watery. Blaine quoted _A year without rain_ by Selena Gomez and the Scene, although he hated that song, but Kurt couldn't stop listening to that song for days. Suddenly, a giant rock appeared on the streets. Kurt would have seen it sooner, but he was too preoccupied with his messages. The tires squealed as he tried to drive around the rock, but he was too fast, so he ended up coming from the road instead. He watched in horror as the car drove off the cliff right into the sea. 'So, this is how it ends', Kurt thought bitterly, as the car crashed into the waves. At the same time, he knocked his head on the steering wheel and lost consciousness, and the car sank down into the depths of the sea.

Kurt opened his eyes, feeling dizzy. What the hell had happened? Then, all of a sudden, all of his memories came crashing down to him. The fight with Blaine, him driving away angrily and the accident…Kurt's forehead started aching and everything started spinning, so he leaned his head back on his seat. Hold up…Was he still underwater? He examined his surroundings and noticed fish passing his car, then looked down and noticed his tail. Oh my…How could he explain this to the insurance guys? Whatever, he would worry about that later, now he needed to get out and get medical help 'cause his headache was getting unbearable. Kurt unfastened his seatbelt, opened the door and swam out of the car and to the surface. When he broke the surface, he noticed the pitch-black sky and the half moon. Oh no, he must have been out for a long time, because when he left the resort, it wasn't that late. Blaine and his friends must be worried sick. Kurt sighed. He couldn't see a shore from where he was, and the cliffs were too high. He dove back down and started swimming to where he thought he saw some lights. Hopefully, he would find the shoreline soon because he still felt like he could pass out any moment.

He didn't know how he found the shore or when he dried off. All he remembered was him stumbling along the shoreline and to the rocks where he had once splashed Santana with his Cappuccino. Kurt's head was still spinning, and his headache was getting worse every minute. After some minutes, he spotted a person sitting on a rock. Maybe this person could help him. Kurt stumbled to the rock and stared at the person's head. He would recognize this head anywhere 'cause this gel-helmet just looked like the hairdo of…" Blaine!", he called out. His boyfriend quickly turned his head and looked relieved when he saw Kurt. However, his face fell after he spotted the nasty-looking bruise on the other boy's head. "Kurt, what happened?", Blaine asked, looking concerned. Kurt was about to answer, but then he fell to the ground after passing out once again. "Kurt? Kurt?" Blaine kneeled down next to the boy and shook him, but he didn't react. Blaine panicked. What happened to his boyfriend? Did someone hurt him? But why? All of this didn't matter at the moment. Now, Kurt needed a doctor. After that, they could take care of the rest. Blaine pulled his phone out of the pocket and sent an emergency message to the ND WhatsApp group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Puck's powers were based by "The Gleeks shall Inherit the World" and Artie's by "Choir Room Heroes", two great fanfics with superpowered NDs, but the first one is sadly incomplete :(  
> And yup, Kurt's accident was inspired by the music video of "The One That Got Away" by Katy Perry.
> 
> Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Kurt slowly opened his eyes. Where was he? Why did his head hurt like that? Hold up… - he looked around and saw a hospital room. Why was he in hospital? His memories were so…blurry and he couldn't distinguish between reality and dreamworld. Was that accident real? "Hey, sleepyhead, about time you wake up!", a voice said next to him. Kurt turned his head. "Blaine? What happened?", he asked. "You have a mild concussion, but that's all. The doctors wanted to keep you here just to be sure you don't have more injuries. You can calm down." But Kurt didn't calm down. In fact, he looked panicked. "But Blaine, I can't stay here! What if those doctors figure out the secret?", he hissed. "We already took care of that. Once I found you, we didn't know what to do, but Artie suggested to contact your Mom's friends. Gwen has a lot of colleagues all over the US from her time in college who happen to be mermaids as well or at least know the secret, even one or two doctors who work here. They will make sure nobody finds out, okay?", Blaine explained. Kurt visibly relaxed. "But now, you have to tell me what the hell happened?" Kurt sighed. "I think I got into an accident. There was a giant rock on the street I saw too late because I checked my messages on my phone and then I accidently steered the car down the cliffs right into the sea. I somehow bumped my head and everything after that is a blur to me." Blaine blinked back some tears. "You know you could've died, right? I would have lost you just because of such a stupid fight. What if you crashed into the cliffs?" Blaine couldn't hold his tears back anymore and started crying. Kurt took his hands. "But I didn't die, Blaine. I'm fine, actually. Okay almost fine.", Kurt grimaced as he touched his now bandaged head. "Let's just forget this stupid fight. We have to focus on the future, not on what happened some months ago." Blaine wiped his tears away. "I'm so sorry about texting Sebastian. I meant it, I deleted everything about him on my phone. I will also erase everything about him from my life." Kurt laughed quietly. "Sounds good to me. But maybe I overreacted a little bit. I was just afraid you would one day realize you still love him and leave me. Honestly, I still am.", Kurt confessed. Now it was Blaine's turn to laugh. "That will never happen, never in a million years. Me and Sebastian Smythe are through, and nothing is going to change that. I told you and I will always tell you: I love you, only you." Blaine leaned down to kiss Kurt but was interrupted by someone clearing his throat. "Am I interrupting something?", Burt Hummel asked. Blaine jumped away from his boyfriend and Kurt's eyes widened. "Dad? What are you doing here?", he asked. "Finn told me about you being in the hospital. I jumped into the next airplane and came here." Kurt started blushing. "And how much did you hear from our conversation?" "The door was open; I was about to enter when I heard you two talking. What the hell were you thinking? Driving and checking messages, you serious? Didn't you kids learn from that accident with Quinn? Don't get me wrong, kiddo, I'm more than glad you are fine but what if you weren't?", Burt berated his son. "It was my fault. I was texting Kurt nonstop while he was driving. He probably wanted to silence me.", Blaine explained. "No, Blaine, none of this is your fault. I should've pulled over and then start reading the texts. I was just angry because of that Sebastian- incident and couldn't think clearly anymore", Kurt said. Burt sighed. "Look, boys, there are some necessary rules to make a relationship work. The most important thing is trust. If Blaine tells you there is nothing going on between that kid and him, you just have to believe him. And concerning you, Blaine: next time, don't keep things that could upset Kurt a secret 'cause another important thing is honesty. I know quite a lot of people that broke up because of this secretiveness. Lies and distrust are the worst enemies of a healthy relationship, never forget that." Kurt was about to comment that statement when the door flew open and his friends stormed in. "Dude, we didn't know you where awake!", Finn shouted. "Why didn't you tell us, Blaine Warbler?", Brittany asked. "Maybe they were busy doing other things", Puck smirked. "Wanky!", Santana purred. "Santana! Puck! Kurt's dad is also in this room!", Mercedes reprimanded her peers. The NDs all started talking, asking many questions at once. "What exactly happened to you?", Rachel asked. "Why did you run away in the first place?", Quinn wanted to know. "We were about to drive to the hospital when we noticed that one car was missing. You took one of our rental cars, didn't you?", Tina queried. "Did you crash into another car? Are there any other injured people?", Artie wondered. Kurt groaned. Just when he thought he was fine, he was getting a headache again, but this time not because of his concussion. "Guys! Will you just stop?", he pleaded. Surprisingly, the group followed orders. "I will answer all of your questions, just not at once. But please be quiet, my head can't handle that much noise at the moment."

After some hours, the NDs returned to the resort. Burt also flew to Washington because of an important meeting. He initially wanted to stay longer, but Kurt assured him he was fine, and he didn't need to worry. Besides, he would check out of hospital the next day. Now, Kurt was busy reading the Vogue while Blaine drove to Starbucks to get them some proper coffee because the coffee in hospital sucked. Someone knocked on the door and Kurt looked up. "About time you return, Blaine.", he said. However, there was a young woman with curly, brown hair standing on the doorway. "Hello, Mr. Hummel. May I enter?", she asked. Kurt nodded. The woman entered. "I'm Detective Kendra Palmers from the VPD.", she said and showed him her mark. Kurt frowned. "And how can I help you?", he asked. "I have to check all of the accident reports. When I was reading yours, I noticed that some things don't make sense. So I came here to ask you some questions before I close the case, just to be sure.", the policewoman said. Kurt nodded. "If you must…" Detective Palmers crossed her arms. "You know, why we have to do that, right? Because things don't add up in your version of the accident and what really happened. I have heard of thousands of accidents like yours and as far as I know, the people involved in that kind of accidents were not as lucky as you were. They all drowned. How come you did not?", she asked, one eyebrow cocked. Kurt sighed. "I already wrote it in the report: I swam to the surface and then to the shore. I guess, I was really lucky." The cop eyed his head. "Yeah, I got that, but I can see that injury on your forehead. You bumped your head pretty badly, didn't you?" Kurt frowned. "Yes. Why?" "With that kind of injury, you normally pass out for at least ten to fifteen minutes. There is no way you could be out this long under water without drowning AND make it to the surface in time AND swim to the shore, which was at least 12 miles away, even if you were uninjured. That's impossible! You want to tell me the truth, young man?" Kurt was at a loss of words. What was he going to do now? He couldn't think of a lie at the moment. And there was no way he could tell her the truth. Luckily, he was saved by the policewoman's phone ringing. "Hello?" "Detective Palmers? We need you now, an emergency!" "Can't it wait, Chief Harrison? I'm in the middle of an interrogation." "You're still investigating? Drop it, the boy is fine, end of the story. Just chase that criminal already!" "Yes Sir!", Detective Palmers sighed and hung up. "This is not over, young man. Something about you is definitely off, and I'm going to find out what it is. I hope you don't mind that I interrogate your friends?", she said. "Do what you have to do", Kurt answered, trying to sound calm. However, his voice came out higher than usual. Luckily, the woman didn't seem to notice that. "Have a nice day, Mr. Hummel.", she said and left. Blaine passed her when he entered Kurt's room, Starbucks cups in hand. He confusedly looked after her. "Who was that?", he asked, but frowned when he saw Kurt had paled. "We are deep in trouble, Blaine.", Kurt simply said.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

**Interrogation one**

"You are Brittany S. Pierce, right?", Detective Palmers asked. She wanted to interrogate that kid's friends and decided to start with the girls. Now, she was face to face with a young woman with a sleepy expression on her face and who seemed to be dumber than a bag of hammers. The cop sighed inwardly. 'This was going to be a long day', she thought. "That's right. You know, there is kind of a funny story about my name involving Britney Spears. When my girlfriend Santana and I were at the dentist's, we had a hallucination about -" "Miss Pierce, I don't have much time, can we get right to the case?", Detective Palmers interrupted the babbling blonde. Brittany nodded eagerly. "If you say so…" "You and your friends are here for vacation, right? As you know, one of your friends, Kurt Hummel, got into an accident some days ago. Do you know something about that? And don't forget, Miss Pierce: lying to officials is a criminal act. But no pressure, I even got you cheesecake with blueberries." Brittany's eyes lit up. "Oh my gosh, this is my favorite cake! Too bad Lord Tubbington is back home in Lima so we can't share it -" Detective Palmers inwardly groaned. That Hummel kid had weird friends. "Miss Pierce, please answer my question!", she interrupted Brittany. "You know, I always refer to Kurt as a dolphin because dolphins are gay sharks. And Kurt likes boys, that's perfect, right? And he also has a tail of course, that's how he could swim out of the car. Santana once told me that dolphins and sharks don't have to breathe underwater, that's the reason why Kurt didn't drown. Did I mention that Santana and I once swam with dolphins in the sea? That was a lot of fun!" The policewoman's right eye twitched. "What are you trying to tell me, Miss Pierce? That your friend turned into a dolphin and just swam away? I don't have time for your imaginary stories! Just tell me the truth, okay?", she said to Brittany as calm as she could. What was wrong with the kids nowadays? Did social media and smartphones fry their brains? "Well actually, Kurt didn't turn into a dolphin, he turned into something different. I can even show you because I can do that too. I just need one drop of -" "Brittany? Why are you already here? We wanted to go to the precinct together" Another blonde entered the interrogation room with a Latina in tow. "Quinn, Santana! This nice detective here even got me cheesecake! You know, I told her Kurt is a dolphin because -" "- dolphins are gay sharks and Kurt is gay. You told us like one million times, Britt", Santana finished her sentence. "Yes, but I also told her that Kurt has a tailfin when he touches -" "- ookay Britt, you stop it right here? Your fantasy stories are starting to annoy Detective Palmers, so please just be quiet and let us do the talking", Quinn cut Brittany off. "Fine, Quinn. But why do you call them fantasy stories? It's the tru…" "JUST EAT YOUR DAMN CHEESECAKE BRITT, for god's sake!", Quinn suddenly screamed. Santana glared daggers at her. "HEY! Who do you think you are?! Don't talk to my girlfriend like that EVER AGAIN, Lucy Caboosey!" Quinn's eyes narrowed. "How dare you!? Don't call me like that or -" "Or what? What do you want to do, Quinnie?", Santana mocked her. Quinn was about to curse at the Latina girl when Detective Palmers slammed her fist on the table. "Miss Lopez and Miss Fabray! Get your act together and stop fighting! Can you just tell me everything you know about that accident? After that you can leave, but please stop screaming!" Quinn nodded and composed herself. "Alright, alright. Britt, please don't say anything, San and I are going to handle everything. Well, it all started with a fight between Kurt and Blaine about Blaine's ex… "

**Interrogation two**

" Hello Ladies. You know, why you are here, right?", Kendra Palmers asked. "Yes, our friend Kurt got into an accident and you want to interrogate all of his friends to solve the case.", Tina answered. Detective Palmers nodded. "True, Miss Cohen-Chang. Some things don't add up, and I just can't drop the case. Your names are Rachel Berry, Mercedes Jones and Tina Cohen-Chang, right?" Rachel snorted. "Why do you ask us, if you already know the answer? And why are you wasting our time with that nonsense?", she scoffed. Detective Palmers smiled. "Don't be rude, Miss Berry. I know you got into that fancy college, NYADA or something, and you don't want to risk that acceptance by insulting an official, do you? Your permanent record definitely won't appreciate that." Rachel paled. "They…they… can kick me out of NYADA?", she whispered anxiously. "It just takes one call, young lady. I mean, which renowned university wants to have a student with a comment in its criminal record? Alright, before I continue crushing people's dreams, let's just jump right to the case. There is no need to be nervous, well, unless you are hiding something. If that is the case, just tell me and then you can go back to your resort. Don't be shy, girls, I even brought you soft drinks, just consider it a nice chat with a cop, okay?" Mercedes frowned. "Why are you doing this? Do you really think we're hiding something? Can't you just let us go?" Detective Palmers crossed her arms. "Good question, Miss Jones. You tell me, if there's something you didn't tell me! I have been a detective for over five years. I never had a case like this, and my intuition is telling me that you and your group of friends are no ordinary group of kids… Oh sorry, Miss Cohen-Chang! I didn't mean to make you wet. Sometimes when I'm in my element, my hands are doing what they want and then I hit a glass full of soda, just like now…where are you going? It's just some sticky lemonade!", she called after the dark-haired girl. Rachel smiled tightly. "Tina can be oversensitive when it comes to her clothes. One dirty spot is like a super catastrophe for her. I think that's because she spent too much time with fashion-obsessed Kurt during glee. By the way…did you know we were all in glee club?"

Sam and Blaine entered the precinct and checked if nobody was near them. After they saw nobody coming, they started whispering around. "Tina? Where are you?" "Psst! Right here, on the floor!", came a voice from one corner. Sam smiled. "Oh, you are invisible. Good thinking!" "Blaine? Sam? Why are you two even here? Not that I'm unhappy to see you guys, I was just wondering.", Tina asked them. "Quinn warned us of Detective Palmers and sent us here, just in case you needed us. Soon after we arrived here, Mercedes sent a text into the New Direction Whats App group saying that you got wet and needed help. Her and Rachel are trying to buy some time by distracting Palmers.", Blaine explained. "Smart thinking, I'm going to have to thank the three of them afterwards. I could make it to the hallway just before my tail appeared, so Detective Palmers couldn't see anything…or so I hope. Just carry me to the toilet where I can dry off with our powers!", Tina suggested. "As you wish! But we kind of need to see you, Tina!", Sam laughed. "Fine. Nobody's around anyway. But warn me if you see someone coming!", Tina said as she made herself visible again. Blaine took her hands, Sam the end of her peach-colored tailfin, and then they carried her to the next toilet they could find.

"…and then Tina bumped her head pretty badly, then we all switched personalities in her weird dream-" "-Interesting. Seriously, where is Miss Cohen-Chang? She just can't disappear during an interrogation!", Detective Palmers cut Rachel off. "She will be here soon, of that I'm sure.", Mercedes reassured her. The cop stood up. "That's it! I'm going to go and bring her back…" "…Here I am, once again!", Tina sang while she reentered the room. "Tina, you can't be serious, right? Why did you just quote Victorious, that mediocre show?", Rachel scoffed. "Admit it, Rachel, you also watch this series, how else could you get the reference?", Tina retorted. Detective Palmers rolled her eyes. "Ladies! This is not the time and not the place to discuss superficial TV-series. Hold up…Miss Cohen-Chang, why is your dress all dry and clean? I thought I spilled it with sticky lemonade?" Tina paled. "You… you did! But I could get the stains out of it, I just rubbed really hard I guess…" "Detective Palmers? Another emergency. I'm sorry but you have to stop that interrogation now", a police officer, who just appeared on the doorway, said. Detective Palmers sighed. "Yes, Officer Rocks, I'm on my way. Have a good evening, girls! But don't think I will give up that easily…", the woman said before leaving. The three girls shuddered.

Detective Palmers shook her head while she looked at her notes of all her interrogations. There was this boy in a wheelchair who was seen at the beach and then just disappeard, leaving his wheelchair behind. Other than that, the kids didn't reveal anything suspicious. They were more resistant than she thought. What would she do now? She wanted answers and she needed them fast before Chief Harrison would force her to close the case for good. The female cop thought hard. Maybe she could go to the place of the accident? She was a skilled diver and even had the diver's license. But she couldn't do that alone. Detective Palmers took her phone and dialed the number of one of her friends, Dr. Amanda Everett. Dr. E. was a gifted marine biologist and also a deep-sea diver. Maybe she could help her solve the case. "Hey Mandy! Listen, are you free for this weekend? I need to ask you for a favor…".

The two women were diving to the car wreck the following weekend. Dr. E. found the car on a large rock. The scientist swam to the left side of the car while the policewoman swam to the right one. Detective Palmers opened the door and searched through the place of the shotgun seat, but didn't find anything interesting. Dr. E. did the same with the driver's seat but wasn't lucky either. She was about to give her friend a sign to leave the place when she suddenly spotted something shimmering on the seat. The woman retrieved a pair of tweezers and carefully took the element away and into a small plastic bag. It looked like a scale of a fish, but it was larger than a normal one. Besides, she had never seen a bright blue scale like that one. The scientist smiled to herself. It couldn't be a coincidence that she found the scale in the car of that kid, right? He surely knew more about that, but he or his friends refused to talk to Kendra, she had seen all interrogations in the precinct. Dr. E. thought hard. Maybe she could make the boy talk. But how?

Kurt only wanted to leave the resort to buy a proper body lotion. The resort store was way too expensive and there were so many other shops not too far away from the hotel. Blaine wanted to come with him but Kurt said no. He would be back after five minutes anyway, so there was no need for that. Currently, the chestnut-haired boy was taking a shortcut through the woods although it was getting darker. He frowned. Why did it feel like someone was following him? Or was he only paranoid? Maybe he watched too much TV. When he was almost out of the woods, something suddenly bumped on the back of his head and he immediately passed out. A redhead came into view. She incredulously looked down her baseball bat. "Well, that was easier than expected...", Dr. E. murmured.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is Dr. E. up to? Find out in the next chapter ;)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

When Kurt came to, a redheaded woman was looking down on him. "Good, evening, young man. My name is Dr. Everett, but please call me Dr. E. You can imagine why you're here, right?", Dr. Amanda Everett said. Kurt blinked. He was sitting on a chair in an empty store room; his hands and ankles were tied up(what a deja-vu, he thought bitterly). "I guess I'm not here to have a tea party with you, am I?", he said in a bitchy tone. Dr. E. slapped the boy hard across the face. "I'm not in the mood for games. My good friend Kendra Palmers told me you and your friends are hiding something, and I have to agree. Something is definitely off with you kids and I'm gonna find out what the heck it is, one way or another.", she said tightly while glaring at Kurt. To her surprise, Kurt threw his head back and started laughing. " That's your plan? Torturing the truth out of me? You see, after three years of constant bullying in high school, being thrown into dumpsters, getting slushie facials or name-callings on a daily basis, I became stronger. You want to beat me up? Go for it. You want to threaten me? Be my guest. But just so you know: After all those years in this hellhole of a high school, nothing can touch me, not that I have anything to hide anyway.", Kurt snapped. "Is that so, Mr. Hummel?", Dr E. answered, cocking her eyebrows. "Last weekend, I accompanied Kendra to her little excursion. Our hobby is deep sea diving, so we went diving to a car wreck. But not just any car wreck. It was the car wreck where your accident took place. Guess, what I found." Dr. E. took a tiny plastic bag out of her purse and showed it to Kurt. "You know, I have been a scientist for over ten years, but I've never seen a fish scale like that. ", she said. Kurt paled. There in this plastic bag was a bright blue scale, but not any scale. He was sure it was his. "What is that?", he asked, although he already knew the answer. " You tell me! I found that scale on the car's driver seat. Don't try to fool me, I'm sure you know more than I do. Just spit it out already", Dr. E. said exasperatedly. Kurt just shook his head. "I'm really sorry, but I can't help you. I didn't pay that much attention during biology classes", he answered in a sassy tone. Dr. E. narrowed her eyes. "I tried to play nice, but you are making this really hard for me.", she snapped. "Play nice? You're kidding me, right? How is imprisonment a nice gesture?", Kurt scoffed. "That's it! I'm gonna-" "Mandy? Are you here?", a voice called out. The door opened and Detective Palmers appeared on the doorway. "Mandy why are you…What the hell are you doing?", she called out when she spotted Kurt. "He won't talk, so I have to do anything about it", Dr. E. shrugged. "Are you out of your mind, Mandy? I can't believe you kidnapped him! You know I'm a cop, right? I have to arrest you if you don't let him go.", Detective Palmers said. "Come on, Kenny! We are besties, you would never arrest your bf, right?", Dr. E. smiled. " If I have to, I will. I took an oath and I won't break it, even if it means that I have to apprehend those I care about.", Detective Palmers retorted. Dr. E.'s smile faltered. "You know exactly that he and his group of friends are far from ordinary. I thought you wanted to find out what the hell they are hiding?", she asked her friend. The policewoman shrugged. "I still do, as much as you, believe me. But not like this. I want to do it the right, and more importantly, legal way. Come on, Mandy, let him go. He's still a kid. Besides, you are better than that. Just release him, then we forget all of this ever happened. Right, Mr. Hummel?", Detective Palmers said while glaring at Kurt, forcing him to agree, so he just nodded. However, the scientist shook her head and crossed her arms. "Your offer is really tempting; I have to give you that. But no thanks. I've already come this far; it would be a shame to give up now. I'm going to continue this, with or without you, Ken. What do you say? Are you on board or not?", she asked her friend. Detective Palmers sighed, then nodded. Dr. E. smiled from ear to ear. "I knew I could count on you, my dear.", she beamed. She linked arms with the detective and turned to Kurt. "Oh, did I mention that we are at a deserted harbor and that nobody would hear your calls for help? Save your voice and don't even try, okay?", she winked mischievously and left the room, leaving Kurt alone. The boy furrowed his eyebrows. Why the sudden change of mind? What if Detective Palmers was up to something? Whatever, he had to get out of here before they could find out more about him and what would happen if he touched water. The young merman struggled against the ropes, but in vain. They were really tight and rubbing against his skin. How else could he free himself? Maybe he could use his powers to burn down the ropes? Kurt was about to ball his hands into fists when he noticed a small surveillance camera hanging down the wall, pointing at his direction. If he used his powers, he would be busted cause that's exactly what they were waiting for. Kurt cursed under his breath. There was nothing he could do. He would wait until they lost interest and let him go because he was harmless. But when was that supposed to happen? Kurt sighed. He had a feeling he would spend a long time in here.

There were exactly 134 spots on the wall. Kurt was utterly bored, so he started counting spots. It's been a day since Dr. E. and Detective Palmers went away and he had to keep himself entertained. When he considered naming each spot, the door opened. Detective Palmers entered and handed him a sandwich and a water bottle after untying his hands. "Hello there. Mandy went away for a while, buying groceries. Look, I'm sorry about all that.", she whispered. Kurt cocked one eyebrow. "Are you?", he asked sarcastically. Detective Palmers bashfully bowed her head. "I had to agree with Mandy or else I couldn't help you. I'm already working on an escape plan, but until I come up with something, we all have to play along, alright?", the brown-haired woman pleaded. Kurt reluctantly nodded. "Good. Now that you finished eating, I have to tie your hands again. But I promise, I won't let you down. I still mean what I said yesterday", Detective Palmers promised and left the room. Kurt believed her. He could tell if people were lying, so either the policewoman was a really convincing liar, or she was telling the truth. He really hoped it was the latter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will the women find out the secret? Is Detective Palmers really on Kurt's side?
> 
> Find out in the next chapter...


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

"Have you already found him?", Finn asked Quinn, Santana and Brittany. The three mermaids shook their heads. "Sorry, Finn, but he just disappeared. We don't know where else to search for him", Quinn said. Finn and the three girls were currently at the moonpool with the girls in the water and Finn sitting on the shore, coordinating the search parties and waiting in case his brother would swim to the moonpool and needed help. "Please continue searching, okay?", Finn pleaded. The girls nodded and dove back into the water. "Hey Frankenteen. I'm sorry about Lady Lips, but we will find him, don't worry", Santana winked before she dove in, her orange tailfin was splashing on the surface. Finn smiled faintly. In times like these, he could even count on Santana. Although the NDs didn't share that secret that long, they already grew closer to each other. "Finn? Are you okay?" Rachel just surfaced,flicking her soft violet tail. Finn sighed deeply. " After that accident, I promised Burt to keep an eye on Kurt and to bring him back home, safe and sound. I already broke that promise. I'm a horrible big brother", Finn said and desperately ruffled his hair. Rachel laughed. "You are only older by a few months or something. Anyway, this whole thing is not your fault, neither was the accident and Mr. Hummel knew that. Nobody saw this coming, not even Blaine. Kurt will be fine, no matter what happened to him, you know how strong he can be. But you need to rest, you haven't been sleeping enough lately", Rachel said softly. "How the hell can I sleep? Kurt is god knows where and maybe needs help!", Finn said exasperatedly. " Kurt wouldn't want that you suffer like that. Come on, Finn, only some hours of sleep, and then you can return early in the morning. Blaine is just as stubborn as you, but Tina and Sam try to get him into bed too." Again, Finn sighed loudly. He knew how stubborn his girlfriend could be. "Okay, I'm coming. You can swim ahead, I will be in the hotel room in some minutes", he promised. Rachel nodded and dove in. Finn looked up the pitch-black sky. "Kurt, dude, wherever you may be, I just hope you are fine and will show up soon.."

He finally decided to name the spots. The yellow spot's name was Trudy. The spot beside Trudy was now called Juliet. Trudy and Juliet were friends with Gus, Shawn and Adrian. The latter two were both gay spots who got bullied by big, nasty looking spots Carlton and Leland. Adrian just discovered his feelings for Shawn but was too afraid to tell him the truth. Kurt shook his head. What was wrong with him? Instead of worrying about what Dr. E. was up to, he was sitting here naming spots ,based on his dad's favorite detective series, and giving them background stories. Maybe he really spent too much time with Brittany. Kurt snapped out of his reverie when the door burst open and Detective Palmers entered, looking nervous. She quickly untied Kurt's ties. "Come on, we don't have much time. Mandy wants to keep you here forever until you spill. Now she's gone for a short time and we can get you out.", she said hastily. Kurt stood up and followed the woman out of the room and to the hallway. However, someone blocked their way. "Well, well, well, who do we have here? The boy and the traitor", Dr. E. said smiling and held up her gun, pointing to both of them. Detective Palmers pulled out her own weapon, but the scientist started laughing. "Oh Kenny, you really think I'm that dumb? Of course, I took out all bullets of your Glock while you were napping. I had a feeling you would sooner or later betray me, you and your sense of justice. And I thought you were my friend." Dr. E. laughed bitterly. The policewoman pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. The redhead cocked her eyebrow. "You believe me now?", she said. "This whole thing is ridiculous. What else do I have to do to prove you that you are wrong?", Kurt asked, trying to mask his fear. "Tell me the truth, that's all!", Dr. E. yelled. Detective Palmers sighed. "I think that's enough, Mandy. You trapped the boy for three days now, but I doubt he hides something, neither do his friends. Maybe we just misinterpreted things." "No! I won't give up that easily, never!", Dr. E. shouted. "Well, if that's the case…" Detective Palmers leapt to her former friend and tackled her to the ground. "Run!", she shouted at Kurt, while fighting with the scientist. Kurt obeyed and threw open the door. He ran to the edge of the port and was about to jump into the water, when he heard a gunshot and someone screaming in pain. Kurt paled. That voice definitely belonged to Detective Palmers. What would that crazy woman do to her if he left? He would never forgive himself if something was to happen to the policewoman who selflessly helped him escape. So, he turned around and ran back to the building.

Kurt peeked around the corner and spotted the brown-haired woman on the floor holding her bleeding stomach. Dr. E. was standing beside her, with trembling hands around the weapon. "Serves you right! You let him escape, how could you?", the scientist glared. "I once swore to myself to free the world from criminals, from people like you, Mandy. I never thought, you would go this far! But if it means I have to die to protect one innocent civilian, then so be it", Detective Palmers scoffed. "Shut up!" Mandy kicked her former friend into the side and the brunette hissed in pain. Kurt narrowed his eyes. He had to do something to help the poor woman. But as long as she held the gun in her hands, it would be too risky. Unless… Kurt moved his hands. Suddenly, a gust of wind threw the scientist to the floor and the weapon fell out of her grasp in the process. Detective Palmers easily caught it. "It's over now, Mandy. Please don't make this harder for me", the cop pleaded. However, Mandy started grinning evilly. "You know, I always have a plan B, Ken. What if I wouldn't be successful? You see, I have too many debts to pay, my family hates me because I wanted to become a scientist, not a lawyer like all of them and my husband cheated on me with his secretary. Now add a life sentence because I not only kidnapped an eighteen-year-old boy, I threatened both of you and shot a cop. I thought if I could prove the impossible was actually possible, my problems would be solved! But I was wrong. You're right. The world will be a tad better without me. That's why I'm blowing this whole place up inexactly…" She checked her watch "...forty seconds. I already set the timer off when you took the gun. Go and save yourself, I'm staying here. Have a nice life, Ken." With that words, the scientist quickly took Detective Palmers' handcuffs, cuffed herself on the door and threw the keys out of the window right into the sea. Kurt's eyes widened. The policewoman, too weak to prohibit that, gaped at her. "What are you waiting for? Go save yourself, only thirty seconds left!", Mandy shooed her out. Surprisingly, the cop got up and hugged the redhead. "I'm so sorry about all of this, Mandy. Goodbye." Mandy just nodded. "Yeah, yeah, it's okay. Now get the hell out of here before I literally throw you out!", she threatened. Detective Palmers stumbled out the door and ran right into Kurt. "What are you still doing here?", she hissed, surprised. "I couldn't leave you here with that psycho", Kurt confessed. Detective Palmers shook her head. "We will discuss that later. But now, we have to get out of her-" Suddenly, the detective fell to the floor and passed out. "Oh no", Kurt mumbled. He lifted the woman in his arms, bridal style, and ran to the port. Before he jumped into the water, he quickly untied his Alexander McQueen scarf and tied the brunette's wound as tight as he could. When he landed in the water, he heard a beeping. Kurt sped away as fast as he could, the woman still in his arms. Behind him, the small building blew up.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup, there were references of Monk and Psych in this chapter.
> 
> Stay tuned...


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Kurt swam to a deserted shore and laid the policewoman down on the sand. Luckily, she was still breathing although her pulse was rather weak. It was just a grazing shot and there was no bullet inside her body, but her condition was still critical and he doubted that they would make it to the hospital in time. Kurt furrowed his eyebrows. Quinn was the one with healing as her primary power, but theoretically, he should also be able to do that as well. He mentally berated himself he never asked Quinn whether she could teach him how to do it. He undid the tie, held up his hand above the wound, channeled all of his willpower and waved it like Quinn always did. Nothing happened. Kurt repeatedly tried again, but in vain. He was about to give up when the wound suddenly sealed itself up slowly. Kurt was so relieved he didn't notice the woman waking up. "Where am I?", she mumbled dizzily. Her hands flew to her former gunshot wound and she raised her head when she only found a bruise. "What the…" Her eyes widened when she spotted Kurt's fin. "Jesus!", she hissed. At this moment, Kurt realized he forgot to change back after he swam to the shore. "Oops…", he mumbled.

"Soo…your friends are also like you?" Detective Palmers asked. She was sitting on one of the large rocks on the beach. Kurt was sitting next to her, cross legged. They were both staring to the sea in front of them. "Yes.", Kurt admitted. "And you all have those freaky powers?", she wanted to know. Kurt nodded. "That's how you could swim out of the car back then. Do you breathe underwater?", the woman asked curiously. Kurt shook his head. "I can hold my breath for a really long time, though", he explained. "Let me get this straight: Every time you or your friends touch water, you grow fishtails? Whoa, I don't know what I expected, but certainly not that", the cop said, frowning. They sat like that for some minutes, neither of them saying anything and instead listening to the waves, processing what had happened. After some time had passed, the brunette woman got up. "I think I'm going to leave now; I have to report that kidnapping and the suicide of Mandy. But don't worry, your secret is safe with me. That's the least I could do after you saved me twice. I will think of a believable story why Mandy kidnapped you and close the case of your accident for good. Be safe, Mr. Hummel.", Detective Palmers said. "Call me Kurt", Kurt winked. "Only if you call me Kendra!", the policewoman smiled. "I think I also should get going, my friends are probably worried sick!", Kurt said. "Let me guess: you will swim, right?", the woman laughed. Kurt smirked. "I saw that coming. Well, goodbye, I guess. And if you ever need something here in Florida, you have my number. I will never forget what you have done for me, although I wasn't really nice to you. You are a good boy, Kurt", Kendra said. "You're not so bad yourself!", Kurt answered, still smiling. "Well, that's my job. Now go before your friends start to flip out. Have a good flight back to Ohio!", the cop winked. They shook hands, then Kurt took his T-Shirt off and jumped into the water. Kendra watched in fascination as the boy's legs vanished and the bright blue tailfin appeared. She waved one last time before Kurt dove in and sped away.

Blaine was sitting on the shore of the moonpool and staring at the stone walls. Although Sam and Tina convinced him to go to sleep, he was tired. Seeing Kurt' s empty spot in the bed was kind of keeping him from sleeping. Now, it was his turn to stay at the moonpool and Finn helped the others search in the sea. The curly headed boy sighed loudly. It was his fault Kurt disappeared. Why didn't he insist on going with him to the shop? Maybe all of this wouldn't have happened in the first place if he had been with him. Blaine startled when someone suddenly surfaced. "Blaine? What are you doing here?", Kurt asked. Blaine's eyes widened. "Kurt!", he called out. He jumped into the water next to the other boy, grabbed his face and crashed his lips on Kurt's. The chestnut haired boy pulled away after a while and Kurt grinned. "Well...that's what I call a great way to say hello", he laughed. "I was worried sick and so were the others. Where have you been?", Blaine asked breathlessly. Kurt sighed. "Long story. But I'm fine now, that's what is important, right?", he said softly. "Kurt? Is it really you?", Finn, who just appeared at the moonpool's entry, asked incredulously. "Yes , I'm back, Finn", Kurt replied happily. "I'm so glad, dude! We've been searching for you all day and all night. What the hell happened?", Finn wanted to know. "Long story, like I already told Blaine. I'm gonna tell you everything when all the others are around as well", Kurt answered. He turned on his back and floated on the surface of the water, slightly flicking his tailfin. "But now, I really need to rest. I have been sitting on a chair for three days, all tied up and my muscles are hurting", he grimaced, deliberately ignoring the horrified face expressions of his boyfriend and his brother.

After Finn sent a text into the ND group, telling the others Kurt returned, safe and sound, everyone returned to the resort. There were only three days left of their vacation and the gleeks wanted to enjoy them as much as possible, leaving that horrible incident far behind them. Currently, all of them were in the lobby and busy playing table-tennis. Well, almost all of them. "Has anyone seen Artie? We wanted to upgrade our tracking App, but he just disappeared", Puck asked the gleeks. Mercedes paled. "I hope that crazy scientist didn't kidnap him", she shuddered. Kurt shook his head. "Dr. E. commited suicide. According to Kendra, the police even found some of her body pieces", he explained. Rachel shuddered. "Gross! I don't even want to know how they looked", she said, disgusted. Tina was deep in thought. She noticed that Artie was acting weird lately, especially now that their vacation was nearing its end. She furrowed her eyebrows. "I have an idea where Artie might be now", she told the others and turned on her heel to walk away. "Do you want me to come with you?", Quinn offered. Tina shook her head. "No need for that. Just give me some mintues, I will talk to Artie", she said. Mike frowned. "But if you are not back after an hour, we will search for you. We don't want another abduction", he said apprehensively. "That won't happen, I will make sure of that", Tina laughed and left the lobby.  
As expected, the girl found Artie in the moonpool. When she surfaced, she could already see his apple green tail. "Artie? Are you okay?", she asked her friend and swam next to him to the edge. Artie sighed. "I don't know...I was so happy when I found out I could move my tail. Gwen explained that my merman side is unaffected by the accident or something like that, so I still can't move my legs. I don't know how to deal with that to be honest. What if I just dive in, swim away and never come back? I've honestly considered that", Artie said, thoughtful. Tina shook her head. "You can't do this to your family our your friends, they would be devastated if you just disappeared without a trace. And what about your future? I thought you wanted to go to college and become a successful director or something like that, right? I don't think you can do that if you want to live in the ocean. I don't want to sugarcoat your life where you can't move your legs, but think about it. Life on land is so much more interesting than in the sea, especially if you are alone. This is not a Disney movie where you can live in an underwater castle like Ariel", Tina joked. Artie laughed quietly. "And one day, you and I are going the explore the ocean or swim to The Bahamas or to the Titanic or whatever you want to do, I promise. But please don't leave your life on land behind just because of that, Artie. We may not be a couple, but you are still important to me and I will not just let you make a big mistake like that", Tina said softly, taking the boy's hands. "Thank you, Tina. And you're right, this was a stupid idea. I can't just run away from my problems or take selfish decisions like that one", Artie realized. "That's what friends are for", the Asian mermaid said coyly. Both of them stayed like that for a while, just enjoying each other's silent company. After a while, Tina tugged her friend's arm. "We really need to get going now, the others are probably worried sick by now because they think we were kidnapped by mad scientists", she laughed. Both of them dove into the water and left the moonpool, swimming back to the resort's beach.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to write how Artie handles the whole situation, so I added a small Tartie scene...
> 
> I hope you liked it ;)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some brotherly Furt scenes where the boys have a heart-to-heart talk. Enjoy ;)
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

"Dude, how can you get sick in the summer? I mean it's hot outside!", Finn said and sat down next to Kurt's vanity table. In the meantime, some days had passed, and the group of friends was back in Lima. However, Kurt got sick one day after they arrived at home. The chestnut-haired boy, who was lying in his bed, grimaced. "There was this sick girl sitting next to me on the plane and sneezing into my face every minute." "But we wanted to have a meeting, all of us, to discuss how we will handle this whole stuff. Rachel insisted to do that, it's going to take place at hers because her dads are on vacation", Finn explained. Kurt smiled. "I'm going to pass. Actually, I'm glad I have an excuse because I couldn't bear to be near Rachel and her loud voice now. I mean, I love her, but sometimes, I wish I could turn her volume down", he said. Finn frowned, then turned to Kurt's face products and took one bottle. "What do you have here? Tonic? I thought tonic was for gin tonic", Finn asked and scrunched his nose up in confusion. Kurt rolled his eyes. "That's facial tonic, Finn. It cleans your face.", he explained as if he was talking to a small child. Finn slowly nodded. "But why don't you just use normal water? I mean it can clean your face too and you don't have to order it on Amazon.", he wondered, as he turned the bottle in his hands. Kurt groaned in frustration and got up from bed. "Give me the bottle, Finn. I paid a fortune to get that water and I don't trust you and your clumsiness." Kurt tried to take the bottle out of his brother's hands, but Finn wouldn't let go. Suddenly, the bottle opened, and Kurt got his hands wet. "Dammit Finn!", he screamed as he fell down on his bed with his tail. "Sorry, dude", Finn mumbled. "Boys? Everything okay?", Burt asked from another room. Kurt's and Finn's eyes widened. "Yes, dad! Everything fine!", Kurt answered back, trying to sound calm. "I don't think so. I'm gonna come check on you guys." Kurt quickly covered himself with his blankets and Finn helped him. "Dude, how could you hide that from us for nine months?", he asked. Kurt shrugged. "Blaine and I got better at hiding over the months." "Boys? Everything okay?" Burt entered his son's room. "Yes, dad. I'm just sick, that's all. Finn is not happy that I can't accompany him to the New Direction meeting, but I really don't care.", Kurt explained with an innocent expression. Finn stood next to Kurt's bed, trying to inconspicuously hide a part of Kurt's fin in the blankets. Burt eyed both of them. "You sure that's all? That's why you were shouting?" Finn and Kurt nodded. "Well, I hope you get better soon, bud. Try to rest until you fully recovered, okay?" "Yes, dad", Kurt answered obediently. "Good. I have to go back to the garage. See you later, boys. Finn, have fun at your meeting." Burt closed the door and went downstairs. "Well, that was close", Finn said, relieved. Kurt glared at him while he dried his tail with his powers. "Yes, it was. But you really need to be more careful, Finn. What will you do when Rachel and I are going to be in New York and Puckerman is going to be in L.A.? You will be on your own and nobody can save you if the secret gets out. From now on, don't go near anything water related ever again", Kurt ordered. Finn nodded. "I get it, okay? But it was an accident, I swear." "Good, but I need you to be extra-careful from now on. Better safe than sorry, right?" Kurt stood up and went out of the room. Finn sighed. Keeping that secret was going to be harder than expected. His stomach was growling. All that fuss made him hungry, so he got up and followed Kurt down the kitchen. Kurt was about to cook water for his tea when he sneezed. At the same time, everything before him covered with ice. Finn cocked his eyebrows. "Dude, I thought you had a grasp on your powers", he said. Kurt cocked his head to the side. "I do! But I don't know how - " Once again, he sneezed and the cup of tea, but also the water boiler before him froze into a giant ice block. Kurt cocked one of his eyebrows. "Well, that is new." "Did that always happen when you got sick?", Finn asked. "Since the day Blaine and I changed, I never got sick. I guess I was really lucky...", Kurt answered with a frown. Finn backed away. "Dude, I don't want you to infect me. I better get going before it's too late." With that, he quickly turned around and left the house through the backdoor. Kurt shrugged, turned to the ice block and balled his hands to fists. The ice melted within seconds and evaporated completely. He smiled to himself. That training session at the resort totally payed off. He took a glass of orange juice and went back to his room. 'Maybe I could take a nap or something', Kurt thought and went to his bed.

When Finn returned from his "meeting", he went upstairs to check on his stepbrother and to give him an update. "Kurt, dude, we talked about…" Finn trailed off when he saw the room of the other boy. Everything was covered with frost and giant bubbles were floating in the air; Kurt was fast asleep on his bed. Finn carefully came over to the bed without slipping because of the ice-covered floor. "Dude wake up! You're going to freeze the whole house", Finn exclaimed. Kurt blinked, opened his eyes and groaned. "Finn don't shout like that, I can hear you and my head still hurts", he complained, still drowsy. "Come on, open your eyes! You need to see what you have done" ,his stepbrother insisted. Kurt slowly followed orders. "What is it, Finn? You are…OHMYGOD!", he screeched when he saw his bedroom. The bubbles fell down and made everything, including the boys, wet. "Crap", Finn cursed when he fell down with his olive-green tail. Kurt blushed. "Sorry", he mumbled, flicking his fin. He balled his hands to fists and started drying his room. When both of them changed back, Kurt sat up and started thinking. "I lose control over my powers when I'm asleep and when I'm sick… what if that will happen to the others too?", he wondered. "That makes sense", Finn agreed. He retrieved his phone from his pocket and started typing a text. "We have to warn the others. From now on, everyone needs to be careful during illnesses", Finn mumbled. Kurt cocked his head to the side. "So if we can't control our powers while we are sick…maybe you can discover your powers like that?", he joked. Finn, who obviously didn't get the joke, cocked his eyebrows. "I didn't think about it like that, but yeah, that kind of makes sense", he said and went over to his brother, sitting down close to him. Kurt looked at him. "What are you doing, Finn?", he asked. "If I get sick too, I know what my powers are. So would you please infect me with your cold? Can you sneeze on me or something?", the taller boy asked, imitating Blaine's infamous puppy dog eyes. Kurt rolled his eyes. "You are aware I was joking, right? And who says that it would work? Forget it", he said, slightly annoyed. All of a sudden, Finn looked a little bit…sad? "All the others already know what they are able to do, I'm the only one who has…nothing, and that kind of sucks", he admitted. Kurt sighed. "Finn, you don't know how lucky you are. I always have to keep myself under control or else, I could hurt others when I'm angry or outraged because of our monster-like powers. I mean Artie could seriously hurt someone with a thunderbolt, Santana could shatter an entire building, Mercedes could turn our continent into a jungle, Blaine could create a vast inferno within seconds, Sam could be responsible for the next ice age, and I could cause a deadly tsunami with one simple movement of my hand… And don't even get me started with all the others' abilities and what they are capable of destroying. You don't need to worry about all this because you don't have dangerous weapons in you that just wait to be activated…", Kurt said and anxiously looked down his hands. "Like one of these superheroes in the Marvel comics said: With great powers comes great responsibility or something like that. And if you are not in possession of these powers, then you don't have to carry a burden like that one." Finn put his head in his hands. "And what if I want that? Think about it: I could help others with my powers, that would be amazing! I mean we don't have to be superheroes or something, but…Rachel once said: Being part of something special makes you special. But honestly, I don't feel special. I just feel…awkward with you guys", Finn sighed. Kurt compassionately patted his shoulder. "You feel awkward? Imagine how I felt my whole life! I was the weird boy who was interested in tea parties and high heels, not in football or Power Rangers, that's why I was bullied all the time. These powers and me being a mythical creature doesn't make my life easier as well. And there you are, complaining you don't have powers? I really don't get it", Kurt said, shaking his head. Finn sighed deeply. "How can you?"

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well...that turned out little bit more angstier than planned...
> 
> Anyways, I hope you liked it... What do you think? Do you want more profound Furt scenes like this?
> 
> Please let me know ;)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

"Guys, you never believe what I've found on Amazon!", Rachel said excitedly. In the meantime, a week had passed and Rachel had sent a text into the WhatsApp group of the gleeks, ordering them to come to a meeting in her basement. At the moment, only her, Quinn, Brittany, Tina and Santana were there, the others were on their way. Santana groaned. "What is it, Manhands?", she asked. The petite brunette lifted a box from the table behind her. "I've found a box with items which will help us perform mermaid magic", she explained. Santana cocked an eyebrow. "You serious, dwarf?", the Latina mermaid asked. "I've read on websites that mermaids used to do magic in the past", Rachel explained and handed the girls handouts with the result of her researches. "Rachel, we already know how to do it. I can turn things to jelly, Tina can turn invisible, Quinn can heal things, you can…" "I didn't mean our powers, Brittany!", Rachel interrupted the blonde. She then took a flagon out of the box, which was filled with colorful dust and eyed it, then she took another vial with snow white glitter dust inside and turned it in her hands. "Merpeople could perform magic like wizards or witches, but only with certain elements and objects which I found online", she explained and held both jars in the air. "And what do Gwen, Alice and Pamela think about that? They certainly do know more than we do about that mermaid stuff", Quinn said. Rachel shook her head. "As a scientist, Gwen doesn't believe in magic. I doubt that she would believe me", she answered. Quinn lifted her hand and a wind got up. The wind caused Rachel to let go of the jars and the items levitated in the air. "Quinn, give them back!", Rachel screamed. She also lifted her hands and the jars were hovering to her direction. However, the blonde didn't give up that easily and flicked her hands. The jars flew back to her. "Hey guys! Rachel, why did you text us to…" Kurt never finished that sentence as both girls turned to him with lifted hands. Kurt was thrown back by the force of their powers and fell to the floor, the content of both jars was spilled all over him. "Oh my gosh, Kurt!", Rachel screamed. The girls all ran over to the now unconscious boy lying on the floor. "Kurt, wake up!", Quinn pleaded while she shook him. "Is he dead?", Brittany asked anxiously. Tina shook her head. "No, he is still breathing." Santana also shook him. "Come on, Lady Lips, wake up! Who is going to be the target for all my gay jokes if you die?", she asked. Quinn glared at her. "Seriously, San?" Santana shrugged. "What? You have your hobbies and I have mine", she explained. Kurt blinked and slowly opened his eyes. Brittany lunged forward and hugged him. "Dolphin! You are not dead, that's great!", she said happily. Kurt confusedly looked up. "Dolphin?", he asked. Santana rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, Lady Hummel, don't pretend you have forgotten our little insider joke" Kurt blinked. "Lady Hummel? Why are you calling me like this? I'm male", he said matter-of-factly. Quinn groaned. "Stop it now, Kurt. I get it if you are insulted by Santana's nicknames, but to pretend you don't remember them? That's immature" Kurt rubbed his head. "Who is Kurt?", he asked. The girls just gaped at him. "You don't remember your own name?", Rachel asked incredulously. Kurt shook his head. "Do you know who we are?", she queried. Again, the boy shook his head. Quinn and Rachel exchanged worried glances. "Oops, I think we messed up." At this moment, Mercedes was entering the basement. "I hope this is important, white girl. I had to skip rehearsals for the church choir", she said to Rachel. "Why are you all looking like that? Did you just see a ghost or something?", Mercedes asked, cocking her head to the side. Tina shook her head. "Even worse: We think Kurt has lost his memories", she explained. "No way! How?", Mercedes incredulously asked. Brittany, Santana and Tina looked over to Rachel and Quinn. "We think those two performed 'mermaid magic'", Santana said, air quoting mermaid magic. Mercedes cocked her eyebrow. "And did Quinn try to heal him or something? After all, it's her primary power", the black girl reasoned. Rachel clapped her hands. "Mercedes, you're a genius! Let's try!", she said, dragging the blonde over to a confused looking Kurt. "What are you going to do now? Are you witches or something?", Kurt asked, slightly scared. "Don't worry, Kurt. You will get your memories back in no time. Just close your eyes and try to relax", Quinn said. The boy followed orders and Quinn took a deep breath before she waved her hands over Kurt's head. She frowned. "It's not working. Something is blocking my powers", she explained. "But why?", Tina wondered. "What if we cannot heal Kurt because mermaid magic caused his amnesia?", Rachel theorized. "That ain't good. What are we going to do now? We can't cure him conventionally, so how can we get him his memories back?", Mercedes asked, worried. The door flew open and someone entered the basement "Sorry I'm late but Cooper wanted to have some bro time with me, but now I'm here", Blaine, who just went down the stairs, apologized. He rushed over to Kurt. "I've missed you so much. How is it going?", he asked and wanted to peck the other boy. However, Kurt backed away. Blaine cocked his head to the side. "Are you okay, babe?", he asked. Kurt confusedly looked to the other boy. "Do I know you?", he asked. Blaine looked even more confused. "What is going on? Is this a joke?", he asked. "Unfortunately not. Kurt has amnesia thanks to mermaid magic", Tina explained. Blaine quirked his eyebrows. "Wait, what?" "Manhands and Q totally messed him up. They had to argue and then they accidently attacked Lady Lips with their powers", Santana said. Blaine kneeled down and lifted the now empty jars. "You spilled Kurt with glitter and he just lost his memories like that?", he wondered. Rachel shrugged. "This is not just glitter, it's magical dust. I've found them online along with other stuff", she told him. "And did Quinn try to heal him or something?", Blaine wanted to know. Mercedes nodded. "But it is not working. We think that whatever we have done is blocking Quinn's powers on him", she explained. "An did you try to heal him with...you know… mermaid magic?", Blaine asked, pointing to the box of "magical" items. "Oh man, I don't believe I just said this...", he muttered. Rachel scratched her imaginary beard. "We didn't think about that possibility. Maybe we will find something online…", she thought out loud and retrieved her phone from her skirt pocket. "Let's do some research!"

"Dude…So you don't know who I am?", Finn asked incredulously. In the meantime, the rest of the gleeks had arrived at Rachel's and were doing some research on how to help their friend. Kurt shook his head. "But will you please stop calling me dude? I don't like that", he said. Mike laughed. "People really don't change. Kurt would have said exactly the same." Finn pointed to himself. "Finn. I am Finn" Then, he pointed to Kurt. "Kurt. You are Kurt" Kurt rolled his eyes. "I have amnesia, I am not brain dead", he groaned. Santana cracked up. "That's how I like you, Lady", she said with tears in her eyes. "And will you stop calling me like that, Samantha?", Kurt snapped. Santana's eyes widened. "How did you just call me? My name is SANTANA, capish?", she snapped back. Suddenly, Finn's phone vibrated and he retrieved it from his pocket. "Mom and Burt want us to come home for dinner", the former quarterback read his new text. Panic was written all over his face. "But you can't go now! How can we explain Kurt can't even remember his own parents? They will notice that something is off", Sam thought out loud. Artie's eyes lit up. "I have an idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always wanted to write something where one of the characters has amnesia. Now was the opportunity...
> 
> Please like, suscribe or whatever xD


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

"Do you really think that will work?", Kurt asked when he and Finn stood on the porch of their house. Finn nodded. "All the others will help us get through this. With the earpieces of Artie, our friends can help us out if something goes wrong." "Kurt? Can you hear us?" Kurt recognized the loud brunette's voice in his earpiece. Kurt hissed. "Jeez, Raquel, you don't need to yell into my ear", he complained. "My name is Rachel, Kurt. I hope you can at least remember your parents' names." "Dirk and Charlotte, right?", Kurt guessed. "We are so screwed", Puck whispered in the background. "Finn, make sure Kurt doesn't mess things up.", Rachel instructed her boyfriend. "Frankenteen as a caretaker? Oh boy…", Santana mumbled. Finn suddenly remembered something. "Oh and Kurt? Make sure you never touch water, or anything wet directly", he said. Kurt cocked his eyebrow. "Why?", he wanted to know. Finn was about to answer when the door suddenly opened. "Boys? Why are you standing outside for hours? Come in", Carole said and shooed the boys inside. Both boys reluctantly entered. Burt already sat at the dinner table. "About time you come home. You are always at Rachel's. Why are you and your New Direction friends spending so much time together, lately?", Burt wanted to know. "Ehhmm…" Finn scratched his head. Normally, Kurt was the one who was thinking of all their excuses. He was not really the smart one among the two of them. "Tell him that is the last summer the NDs can spend together before everyone leaves for their colleges", Quinn said in his earpiece. "Well, this is the last summer we can really spend together before everyone leaves Lima and goes to different colleges", Finn repeated Quinn's words. Carole nodded. "That makes sense. Your friendship is really special, isn't it?", she said. Finn nodded in agreement. "Yes, yes, it is."

"Kurt, darling, why are you so quiet? Is something bothering you?", Carole asked him during dinner. Kurt froze. What was he going to do now? He didn't even know those people, apart from Flint (Was that his name?). "Tell her you are still upset you didn't get into NYADA, that fancy, dumb university for stuck up and self-absorbed assholes", Santana said into his earpiece. "Well…" Kurt played with the broccoli on his fork. He really didn't feel comfortable saying this, but he had no other choice."I am still upset because I didn't get into NYADA, that fancy, dumb university for stuck up and self-absorbed assholes", Kurt repeated a little bit reluctantly. Finn dropped his fork on his plate. "Santana!", Rachel hissed. "Don't say something like that or we will get into serious trouble! Kurt barely uses swear words, you know that!"Carole and Burt, however, compassionately looked over to the chestnut-haired boy. "Kiddo, we understand why you are upset you didn't get into this college. You are still bitter about it, right?", Burt asked. Kurt just nodded. "But please don't swear like that anymore, honey, okay? That's not you", his stepmother pleaded. "Okay. I am sorry", Kurt said. "Well…that was close. But now, we really need to be careful what we say" Kurt could recognize that Asian boy's voice (What was his name again? Miles?) "And what are your plans for tomorrow?", Carole asked the boys. "Well…maybe the NDs will have a meeting again", Finn mumbled. "I'm glad you two found good friends like these kids. High school friends will stay friends for the rest of your lives, so don't mess it up if you will ever need them and we are not around anymore", Burt winked. Finn nodded. He hoped his stepfather was right.

The rest of the dinner went without a hitch as Finn did most of the talking with the help of his friends. After one hour, dinner time was finally over and the boys could go up to their rooms. "That went great, didn't it?", Finn said proudly. Him and Kurt were sitting in front of Finn's laptop in his room, chatting with the rest of their friends. "Yes, but we really need to get Kurt's memories back. Your parents will find out and then we are in trouble not only because of our secret, but also because we messed his brain up", Blaine said. "Speaking of which…where is he now? I haven't seen Lady Lips for a while now…", Santana noticed. Finn turned to the left where Kurt was sitting- and saw no one. "That is not good. You can't leave him alone like that. What if one of your parents wants to talk to him and he will say the wrong things?", Tina said, concerned. "Or even worse…" Mercedes trailed off as they suddenly heard a scream from the boys' shared bathroom. "He finds out", the girl finished her sentence. Finn got up and quickly went to the bathroom door, holding his laptop on his arm. "Dude, everything okay in there?", the boy tentatively asked. "He just found out he is a fish; how the hell can he be okay, Frankenteen?", Santana said in a snarky tone. Finn retrieved one of his mom's hairpins from the dresser next to the door, carefully unlocked the door with it and quickly entered the bathroom with his laptop. Kurt was in the bathtub and horrifiedly stared on his bright blue tail. "All I wanted to do was to take a bath…", he finally said, still stunned. Finn scratched his head. "Yeah…Sorry, dude, I kind of forgot to mention what happens every time we touch water-" "We? What do you mean by that?", Kurt sharply cut his stepbrother off. "Long story. We will explain everything tomorrow, Kurt. This really isn't the place and the time for a story like this", Blaine told his boyfriend. Kurt nodded. "Alright, I can imagine. But first things first: How do I get rid of this thing?", he asked, flicking his tail.

"So this happens everytime I touch water?", Kurt asked his friends after they summarized the happenings of the previous months. The NDs were once again in Rachel's basement which somehow became the main meeting place of them. Blaine nodded. "I know this seems unbelievable, but it's the truth." The chestnut-haired boy frustratedly ruffled his hair, something he did not that often. "I can't believe this! How can this be my life?" "And did we also mention we all got super dope powers?", Sam mentioned excitedly. Mercedes smacked his arm. "Sam! Baby steps, he still has process all the other things", she hissed to her boyfriend. But the harm was already done. Kurt incredulously stared at the blond boy. "You are kidding me, right? Please tell me you are just kidding", he pleaded. Sam shook his head. "Sorry, man", he said apologetically, held out his palm and created a small ice ball which was floating over his hand. Kurt's eyeballs almost popped out of his sockets when he saw that. "That's freaking awesome, right?", Puck grinned, held out his hand and the ice slowly turned grey. Sam caught the newly formed metal ball and showed it to Kurt. "We all have powers like that", Rachel explained and squinted at a glass with orange juice. The glass slowly shaped itself into a figurine which looked like a girl, but not just any girl. Santana put her hands on her hips. "Seriously, Berry? A figurine of yourself? How self-absorbed can a person be?", she scoffed. She stomped her foot and the earth trembled, causing the figurine to fall down and shatter into pieces. Rachel glared at the Latina. "Are you crazy, Santana? This was one of my masterpieces", she whined. Brittany kneeled down to the shards. "Here, let me help you" She carefully put the pieces together and used her fingertips to turn the orange juice on the shards into glue. Proudly, she held the figurine in the air which was fixed rather badly. "As good as new", she said proudly and handed the item to Rachel who smiled tightly. "Thank you, Brittany", she said irritated, trying to sound nice. Kurt disbelievingly gaped at the actions of his friends. "I have to get out of here. This is just too much", he mumbled and ran up the stairs. "Kurt, wait!", Blaine called out and followed him. Quinn turned to the rest of the NDs and crossed her arms. "Well, that went great, didn't it?", she said sarcastically.

Kurt sat on Rachel's porch, head in his hands when Blaine joined him. "I know this is hard to process, but you will get used to all this in no time", the dark-haired boy tried to console his boyfriend. Kurt sighed deeply. "How is that even possible? Were we all born like that?", he asked. Blaine grimaced. "It's far more complicated like that", he answered. Kurt turned to him. "Then explain it to me. Please", he pleaded. The other boy sighed. "Long story short: Your mother fell into an enchanted lake, the so called moonpool when she was our age. One year ago, we both also fell into a moonpool because you felt drawn to it or something like that. We gained powers and then we fought against a bad guy called Sebastian", Blaine recounted. Kurt flinched. Sebastian. He didn't know why, but somehow, he felt something like…hatred when he heard that name. Blaine also seemed to notice the other boy's odd behavior. "Are you okay?", he asked, concerned. Kurt nodded numbly. "Yes, yes, I'm fine. Please go on", he said. "When we were on vacation with our friends some weeks ago, they all got turned into merpeople because they fell into the moonpool as well", Blaine continued explaining. Kurt cocked his eyebrow. "That sounds crazy", he said. Blaine laughed. "Yes, it really is crazy, I have to agree. But Alice, Pamela and Gwen told us there has to be a reason why it turned out like this. They think that we are destined for something…important, but we couldn't figure out what exactly", Blaine frowned. "And who are those three women?", Kurt asked. "Oh sorry, I forgot to mention it. Those were your mom's best friends and they are also mermaids. They are something like…mentors to us and helped us out a lot" Kurt smiled. "That is nice. I mean that we are not alone with all this…" He tried to find an appropriate word. "… craziness?", Blaine offered. The boys started laughing. After both of them had calmed down, Kurt turned to Blaine. "I kind of understand why I wanted to be your boyfriend. You know exactly what to say to cheer me up", he said and leaned his head on Blaine's shoulder. Blaine smiled softly. "We will find a way to bring back your memories, I promise", he said and reassuringly squeezed the other boy's hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well...I have nothing to say this time...
> 
> Peace, I'm out :)


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup, I'm back again. Sorry that my last chapters haven't been that good, there was so much crap happening to me lately and I was kinda depressed :(
> 
> But I will try to write better chapters, I promise! I hope this one is good enough for you...
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

"Guys! I think we found a solution to…Oh, sorry, did I interrupt something?" Rachel stood on the doorway, feeling awkward. Kurt quickly removed his head from the other boy's shoulder and Blaine looked up. "No, you didn't. And what did you find out?", he wanted to know, getting up and pulling Kurt to his feet. "Follow me, guys!", Rachel said eagerly and went back downstairs.

"You remember how Quinn tried to heal Kurt, but it didn't work?", Tina said. Both boys nodded. "But there is another force which is stronger than everything", Artie explained and rolled to the desk, looking at his notes. "Which is?", Blaine asked. "The moonpool when the full moon shines down." Blaine nodded slowly. That made sense. "The moon-what? What did Archie mean?", Kurt asked confusedly. "I will explain it to you later", his boyfriend whispered. "The moonpool will be strong enough to undo the mermaid magic on Kurt's brain. And we only need this thing which acts as an 'eraser'", Rachel explained and held a vial with bright yellow dust inside in the air. "I hope you won't fuck Hummel's brain more up than it already is", Santana muttered. "I heard that, Samantha", Kurt snapped. "That's it! If you call me like that again, I will go all Lima Heights Adjacent on your ass!", Santana screeched. "Excuse me?", the chestnut-haired boy answered in a sassy tone. "Guys! We really need to focus!", Finn interrupted the fight between the Latina and his brother. He turned to Artie. "When is going to be the next full moon?", he asked. Artie looked over to his laptop. "Tomorrow", he realized. Rachel delightedly clapped her hands. "Perfect! What are we waiting for? Let's prepare everything."

The following evening, all the NDs were gathered on the shore of the moonpool. Kurt nervously looked up the black sky. "Do you really think that will work?", he asked. "I hope so. I don't know what else we could do", Blaine said, thoughtful. He reassuringly squeezed Kurt's hand. Kurt looked him in the eyes, leaned in and softly kissed the other boy on his lips. "What was that for?", Blaine asked, surprised. "You were always by my side, trying to help me even though I don't even remember you. Thank you for that, Blaine", he whispered. Blaine looked at him, stunned. "What is it?", Kurt asked him. "You remember my name…you don't remember the names of all the others, but you know mine", Blaine whispered, smiling faintly. "Maybe because you are special to me. I don't know what it is, but I feel something…warm inside me when you are around. Is it love?", Kurt asked the other boy. Blaine leaned in but stopped right before the other boy's ear. "Yes, yes, it is. I know that because I feel the same way with you", he whispered in his ear. When Blaine was about to kiss him, Puck loudly cleared his throat. "Will you stop it, you two lovebirds? I don't want to see gay porn", he whined. Kurt glared daggers at him. "Be quiet, Chuck. This is a special moment between Blaine and me and you just ruined it", he snapped, giving him his best bitch-face. Puck lifted his hands in surrender. "Whoa there, Kurt, chill", he mumbled. "Guys! The moon will pass by the cave in a few minutes!", Artie warned the others. "So we just have to spread all the dust over Kurt when he is in the moonpool?", Mercedes asked. "And when the water is bubbling and everything?", Sam added. Kurt nodded. "I think Marissa and Cam are right. But I hope this will work" Mercedes laughed. "So do I. I'm tired of hearing those wrong names", she giggled. Brittany went over to Kurt and hugged him tightly. "I hope you won't turn into a dolphin and swim away if something goes wrong, Kurtie. Good luck", she said, looking concerned. Kurt smiled a bit. "Thank you, Bethany." All of a sudden, the moon pool started bubbling and bubbles were floating in the air. "Its time, Kurt", Rachel shouted. Kurt kneeled down and went into the water. "Now spread the dust over him!", Artie ordered Rachel, Quinn, Mike and Blaine, who were each holding a vial with dust inside. The four of them followed orders and dumped the content of the vial into the moonpool. The bubbles all turned white all of a sudden, so did the water in the moonpool. Kurt incredulously looked down the water. "Is that supposed to happen?", he asked the others. Artie shrugged. "No idea. I also do this for the first time." Suddenly, a bright light blinded the NDs and they all covered their eyes. When the light faded away, they opened their eyes again. Kurt was floating on the surface of the water, unconscious.  
"Kurt!", Blaine and Finn called out at the same time. The others all exchanged worried glances. Both boys jumped into the water and swam over to Kurt. "Kurt, dude, come on, wake up", Finn pleaded and shook him. "Please, Kurt!" Blaine also shook him. Kurt blinked and slowly opened his eyes. "Finn, stop shaking me like that", he complained. Finn stopped. "Did you just call me Finn? Not Flint?", he asked, stunned. Kurt's eyes widened. "Yes, I did! I remember everything", he called out. He swam to the surface and pointed at Rachel. "Your name is Rachel Barbra Berry, you want to be a Broadway star and your role model is Barbra Streisand", he said proudly. Rachel gaped at him, speechless. "He…he is right", she stammered. Mercedes and Brittany jumped into the water and swam over to their friend. "You are back, boo! I'm so glad!", Mercedes sighed happily and hugged him, joyfully flicking her baby pink tail. "Yay, our dolphin is back!", Brittany cheered and hugged him as well. "Whoa, girls, I'm suffocating!", Kurt laughed. Quinn turned the box with the magical items in her hands. "I guess we will never use that stuff again, am I right?", she asked the others. Mike and Artie nodded. "Those things are dangerous if they are used in the wrong way", Mike agreed and eyed the vials.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, Kurt got his memories back! But all this won't be without consequences...
> 
> 'nuff said ;)


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

The next day, Kurt and Blaine decided to go for a swim in the lake. It had been a while since only the two of them could spend some time together, especially since that amnesia of Kurt kept them busy constantly. The boys submerged and swam to the ground, reaching their rock. Kurt sighed happily. - _I really missed that-_ , he thought. Blaine, who was swimming next to him, turned to the other boy, looking confused.- _Why is he staring at me like that?-_ , Kurt wondered. - _There is no way he could have heard me. How would that even be possible?-_ , the chestnut-haired boy thought, astonished. Blaine just stared at him with an open mouth. But what if he had heard him? If Kurt learned something, then that in this world, everything was possible.- _Blaine, if you can hear me, then nod-_ , Kurt thought. Blaine nodded. Kurt stared at the other boy. - _But how is that possible?-_ , Kurt heard a voice in his head. But it was not his own voice. It wasn't even his own thought. Kurt looked over to Blaine.- _Did you just speak into my brain?-,_ he asked incredulously. - _I guess so...-,_ Blaine answered. The boys horrifiedly looked at each other and quickly swam to the moonpool. "What was that?", Kurt asked anxiously when they surfaced. Blaine shrugged. "Is this a new power? But why? Or how?", he asked. Kurt shook his head. "I have no idea. But we should talk to the others and find out", he said and dove back in. Blaine grimaced. "So much for alone time", he muttered. - _I heard that, Blaine!-_ , Kurt said telepathically. The other boy laughed. "And I was worried that these summer holidays would be boring…"

"You did what?", Rachel asked the boys, astonished. Once again, the NDs had a meeting, but this time in the basement of the Hudmel-household. "We could lead a conversation in our heads", Kurt explained. "Like…telepathically? That's awesome!", Sam exclaimed. He had read a lot of comic books of superheroes with mental abilities, but he had never imagined one of them would one day possess such abilities. Quinn put her hands on her hips. "How can you prove that you are not lying?", she asked the boys and cocked one eyebrow. Kurt looked at Blaine. - _They don't believe us. I knew it was a bad idea to tell them about it-_ , the chestnut-haired boy thought. "How do you expect us to believe you with no proof?", Rachel asked and crossed her arms. Kurt confusedly looked to the brunette. "I didn't say that out loud, did I?", he asked the others. "You just said that we didn't believe you and that it was a bad idea to tell us about that. We could hear you, you know", Mercedes said, and the others nodded in agreement. Blaine furrowed his eyebrows. He needed to try something.- _Okay, guys, look at my mouth. It is not moving but you can still hear me. Kurt and I said the truth. You want a proof? Here is your proof-_ , he thought. The gleeks were gaping at him, speechless. "Holy shit", Puck hissed eventually. "But how is this possible?", Artie wondered. Kurt shrugged. "We don't know. We still need to figure that one out." "And this only works among us?", Mike asked. Blaine nodded. "I guess so. I tried it with Cooper, but it didn't work. Maybe it only works with merpeople", he theorized. "I think we really need to contact Alice, Pamela and Gwen now. This whole thing gets out of hand", Finn realized. "Ain't that the truth, Frankenteen…", Santana muttered sarcastically.

"Why didn't you contact us sooner? You are lucky you could get Kurt's memories back", Pamela berated the gleeks. The group of friends was now gathered around Arties Laptop and were skyping with the three women. "We thought we could handle it. It was my fault, I told the others not to contact you", Rachel admitted, bowing her head. "Hey, we all make mistakes, it's okay", Alice said warmly. "But after we cured Kurt's amnesia, we discovered that we can all telepathically communicate with each other", Quinn told the elder mermaids. "So let me get this straight: This new ability showed up the day after Kurt got his memories back?", Gwen wanted to know. "Yes", Tina answered. Gwen looked at her notes. "What if this new ability could be a side effect of mermaid magic? Some remnants of this magic are maybe still inside Kurt and by using this new ability on you, he accidently passed it to you as well. I've heard of similar cases like that", she theorized. "That kind of makes sense", Sam agreed. "So we all have a new ability thanks to Manhands who found this… this…box with glitter?", Santana asked incredulously. Rachel smirked. "You are welcome", she winked at the Latina mermaid who just rolled her eyes. "Telepathy was no unusual ability among mermaids. Some centuries ago when merpeople used to live underwater, they used this ability to communicate with each other", Gwen read from her notes. "Yeah, all those hand signs are annoying at some point", Mike admitted. "But guys, you really need to be careful with this. Don't exaggerate or else people will grow suspicious. And next time if you want to use mermaid magic again, ask us first", Alice warned the NDs. "We are always careful", Kurt assured the three women. "Oh, and Finn? Did you find out what your primary power is?", Pamela wanted to know before they hung up. Finn shook his head, looking sad. "Don't worry, kid. You will find out sooner or later", the blonde tried to console him. "Yeah, I hope so…", he grumbled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapters will take place in season four.
> 
> See you next time ;)


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Time passed and the summer holidays were finally over. The gleeks parted ways with a heavy heart, promising each other to stay in contact. Rachel headed to New York and after some time, Kurt followed suit. They rented a nice apartment near NYADA and discovered the city that never sleeps. Kurt got an internship at _Vogue.com_ which kept him quite busy. He and Blaine barely had time to skype with each other, but they promised each other to make that long-distance relationship work until Blaine could move to New York as well. Which was easier said than done, especially for Blaine. He always had to think about Kurt when walking down the hallways of McKinley. Kurt was always by his side since his first day at this high school. Everything about this school reminded him of Kurt. Yes, they occasionally talked on the phone, but it wasn't enough anymore. He had a feeling that Kurt was starting a new life and he wasn't part of it. No matter what he did, this feeling wouldn't go away. So Blaine did one of the biggest mistakes of his life: He went over to a Facebook acquaintance to sleep with him. Maybe he needed to move on, just like Kurt did.  
When Blaine was about to take off his shirt, he froze. What was he thinking? He and Kurt had to overcome so many obstacles to become a couple, they helped each other when they couldn't cope with their new lives, he was there for Kurt when he had amnesia and Kurt defeated Sebastian, just for him… He was so foolish. Kurt was not only his boyfriend; he was one of his best friends. Just because things weren't great now, that didn't mean he could throw away something so important like that away. "Blaine? Are you okay?", Eli C. asked beside him. Blaine shook his head. "No, I'm not. Look, I don't think this is a good idea. I'm sorry I wasted your time", he mumbled and put his shirt back on. Eli nodded understandingly. "He really means something to you, right?", he asked. "Yes. And I was about to destroy everything we build up together", Blaine sighed. "Then I'm glad you changed your mind. Would be a shame to make a mistake like that", the Facebook acquaintance winked. Blaine quickly put his shoes on. "Thank you for your understanding. And sorry again", he said bashfully and left.

Blaine confessed to Kurt what he had (almost) done when he was in New York the next time. Kurt was really angry, and Blaine even understood his anger. The chestnut-haired boy refused to talk to him for weeks, no matter what Blaine tried to do. Blaine was devastated, he cried for days and refused to eat. His sense of guilt kept him awake at night and the lack of sleep was visibly getting to him. His grades were getting worse and he didn't even care that he didn't get the leading role in _Grease_. Sam, not bearing to witness the downward spiral of Blaine any longer, decided to take the other boy under his wing. He helped him through this hard time, dragging the other boy to the movies or comic cons or inviting him over to play video games all night, in order to distract him. That's how the both of them became close friends. Blaine honestly didn't know how he would have coped if it wasn't for Sam.  
However, Kurt calmed down a bit after what felt like an eternity to Blaine. One day, he decided to call the other boy back. "You want to explain your situation? Then explain, I'm listening", Kurt simply said. Blaine took a deep breath. This was his chance to get things right. "You were living your dream in New York with that great internship and everything and I was really happy for you. But on the other hand, I was lonely here in Lima. I missed you so much it hurt and then I thought that I was not good enough for you anymore because you moved on with your life and I was still stuck here. Then I befriended a guy on Facebook and one thing led to another. One evening, I found myself in Eli's room without a shirt. But then I remembered what we have been through this whole year and how we had each other's backs. I couldn't just throw away what we had like that even if I felt horrible and lonely. I told Eli and then I left", Blaine explained. "Soo, you and that guy weren't…" "No, no, we didn't. I changed my mind in time", the dark-haired boy quickly assured him. "But that doesn't mean I feel less horrible, Kurt, because I don't. I'm so, so sorry", Blaine said earnestly. Kurt sighed deeply. "Look, Blaine, I'm not really thrilled that you have done that, but I kind of understand you. You and I had been inseparable last year, and we are not quite used to the distance between us. We need to get used to all that, right? If we can defeat an evil merman, then we can also do that", Kurt joked. Blaine couldn't believe his ears. "You…you are not breaking up with me?", he asked incredulously. The other boy sighed deeply. "I would lie if I said that I haven't thought about that. But at the end of the day, you never cheated on me, and that really counts to me. I'm going to give you one second and last chance to make up for this and I hope I won't regret it", Kurt finally said. Blaine bumped his fist in the air. "Thank you so much, Kurt! I don't know how I deserve all this kindness. You won't regret it, I promise", he reassured his still (!) boyfriend. After they hung up, Santana looked over to Kurt from the kitchen and crossed her arms. "You want to give Hobbit a second chance? If someone did that to me, I don't know if I would be that kind…", she mumbled. Kurt sighed. "But Blaine is not just someone to me, Santana..."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo...they didn't break up in this AU. In my opinion, that's how things should have turned out.
> 
> This was inspired by the crisis of my current relationship. I hope you liked how I changed it ;)
> 
> The next chapter won't be that depressing, I promise...


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

"Something about that Brody guy is definitely off", Santana said to Kurt. It's been a while since Finn and Rachel broke up, and currently, she was dating Brody, another NYADA student. This evening, Rachel was on a date with said guy, and Kurt and Santana were sitting in their living room, watching "Project Runway". Kurt shook his head. "I don't think so. Maybe Brody is a little bit…eccentric and self-absorbed, but otherwise…" Santana muted the TV. Kurt looked up from his _Vogue_. "Hey! That was the best part", he protested. "Listen, Lady Lips, if Auntie Snixx says that something is wrong, then you better believe her. What if Brody is dangerous? I only pick up bad vibes from that guy and that ain't good", she said, crossing her arms. Kurt cocked his eyebrows. "Your primary power is earth manipulation, not empathy", he pointed out. Santana shrugged. "Call it my intuition or something, but I don't trust Weston and you shouldn't either", she advised the chestnut-haired boy before going to her room. Kurt shook her head. It was nothing new that Santana was skeptical towards new people. Ever since they all shared that secret, he noticed that she was even more on guard. Maybe she was just exaggerating like she always did.

Later that evening, Rachel and Brody went up to the apartment. "I really enjoyed our date", Rachel smiled. Brody smiled right back. "When can we see each other again?", he asked. Rachel grimaced. "I don't know to be honest. This is my freshman year and I don't want to mess it up especially after I gave everything to get into this school…", she explained. Brody smiled compassionately. "I totally get that. Just text me whenever you have time", he winked. Rachel unlocked her apartment door and was about to enter. "Oh, and Rachel? Can I use your bathroom for one second?", Brody asked. The brunette nodded. "It's the first door on the left", she said and sat down on the couch of her living room. Brody rushed to the bathroom and locked the door. He quickly looked around. The bathroom was not really spacious, there was only a bathtub, a toilet and a small dresser with several hairbrushes (Which all had name tags) and hair products. Nothing special. Brody shrugged. Maybe his assumptions were wrong. When he was about to leave, he noticed something in the bathtub that caught his eye. Something shiny. Brody went closer, bended down and lifted the item with his fingertips. That looked like a…scale? Brody frowned. Since when were fish scales violet? Did Rachel or her roomies even have an aquarium? "Brody? Everything okay in there?", Rachel asked from outside. Brody quickly put the scale in his pocket, took one hair strand from Rachel's hairbrush and unlocked the door. "Yes, I'm fine. I was just…distracted", he said. Rachel cocked her head to the side. "By what?", she wanted to know. Brody scratched his head. "You know…NYADA and my job", he said earnestly. "You never told me what your job is", Rachel realized. Brody paled. He always tried to avoid that topic. "Well…it's complicated. But now, I have to leave, time flies", he mumbled, looking down his watch. He backed away and was about to leave when Rachel grabbed him by the arm. "Brody…if there is something wrong, you know you can always talk to me, right?", she said, looking concerned. Brody smiled faintly. "I know, darling. But don't worry, I'm just stressed out. Maybe I should go home now, get some sleep", he said. Rachel pecked him on the cheek. "Well, good night, Brody" He pecked her right back. "Good night, Rachel." He closed the door and rushed downstairs to his car. To be honest, he felt bad because he lied to Rachel. She was cute and kind and everything, but Brody needed the money. After he had stopped working as a male prostitute, he needed another job, and he needed it fast. Luckily for him, his current boss offered him a job which was even better paid than his previous one. Brody retrieved the scale from his pocket and turned it in his hands. From his other pocket, he took out a strand of hair which he stole from Rachel's hairbrush. He really hoped for the brunette that the analysis in the lab wouldn't bring the results he thought they would bring, or else things could turn out bad for her. Brody retrieved his iPhone and dialed a phone number. "Yes, boss, it's me, Brody Weston. Look, I have the DNA samples of the subject. I will send them to the laboratory as soon as possible."

One week later, Brody entered the laboratory of his workplace. His boss had sent him a text, telling him that the scientists were done analyzing the samples. He approached the head scientist. "What did you find out?", he asked. The man looked to the paper in front of him. "According to our experiments, the probability of those two DNA samples belonging to the same person is 98.7 percent", the scientist said. Brody's eyes went wide. So, his intuition was not failing him. Rachel Berry was a mermaid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, Brody-fans, but I needed an antagonist and he was perfect for the role...


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

"What am I supposed to do now, boss?", Brody asked the man who was sitting at his desk in his office. "First, sit down", the young man ordered his employee, pointing at the seat on the other side of the desk. Brody sat down. "You are really talented, Brody Weston", the man said. "Normally, others take many years, but you only needed a few months", he explained, crossing his arms. "And what are we going to do with the subject?", Brody wanted to know. The man smirked. "Patience is a virtue as you know. We have to be careful now or else, things could go wrong", he explained. "So if I got that right, I just have to…wait?", Brody asked incredulously. His boss nodded. "We need to do some preparations before we can take action. But you on the other hand need to act like you always do when you are around the subject. Continue dating her, stay close to her and make sure she doesn't leave the city", his boss ordered. Brody nodded. That sounded simple.

The following weekend, Rachel invited Brody over to her place for dinner with Kurt and Santana. The latter one was staring at Brody, cocking her head to the side. "So Brody…you never told us what your job is. Why the secretiveness?", she asked him, smirking a little bit evilly. Brody flinched slightly. - _Seriously, Santana? You are scaring him. Stop it!-_ , Rachel said telepathically. - _Oh please, don't tell me you didn't notice that he is hiding something from you, Berry. As a self-proclaimed bitch, I recognize one on first sight-,_ Santana retorted. - _You guys are unbelievable! Do I have to hear all of your fights in my head too, now?-,_ Kurt complained. Brody, unaware of the discussion of the others, finally seemed to find an answer. "I…I work at an office", he simply said. Santana folded her hands. "Interesting. Well, according to my acquaintances, you used to have another kind of job, like…selling physical services. Did you enjoy humping your dance teacher?", she winked mischievously. Kurt almost choked on his green tea. Rachel incredulously looked over to Brody. "Is that true, Brody?", she asked his boyfriend with eyes wide open. He bashfully looked down the floor. "That's the reason why I didn't want to talk about it. I was not really proud of this job or this time, that's why I quit it and searched for another one", he admitted. - _Well…I really didn't see that one coming…-_ , Kurt said. Santana looked over to him with a smug face expression. - _I told you so. But you never listen to wise Auntie Snixx. That guy is not only a lying son of a bitch but also a man whore. Who knows what else this bastard is hiding…-_ , she said. Rachel angrily got up. "Will you stop talking like that about Brody!?", she yelled at the Latina. Brody looked confused whereas Santana and Kurt paled. "Ehhmm…Rachel, Santana didn't say anything…", Kurt pointed out. - _Well, at least not out loud-_ , he added. Rachel looked back and forth between her friends and her boyfriend, panic was written all over her face as realization dawned on her. Without another word, she stormed to her room and slammed the door shut. Brody also got up and followed her. "Rachel, wait!", he shouted. Kurt angrily looked over to Santana. "Was that really necessary?", he asked her and left the kitchen with his cup of tea. Santana looked over to the set table. Nobody had touched his or her food. "Well…more food for me then", she grinned to herself. "But I don't trust that guy. I will keep an eye on him…", she mumbled and bit into her pita bread.

Time passed and the next holidays were just around the corner. All of the NDs wanted to return to Lima to see their high school friends and family again and to help Finn manage the new glee club. Well, almost all of them. Rachel still refused to talk to Finn after they broke up and Kurt didn't have a reason to return to his home city either because Blaine was visiting relatives in Wisconsin with his family, Carole and Finn had to work all day and Burt was in Washington. Currently, Kurt and Adam, one of his friends at NYADA, left the cinema after having watched a movie. "I'm so disappointed in this movie. 'Les Misérables' should have been epic with Hollywood stars, but that was just…meh", Adam just complained. Kurt laughed. "That's nothing new. Hollywood is famous for its terrible remakes of musicals. Which awesome musical are they going to ruin next? Cats?", Kurt said, cocking one eyebrow. This time it was Adam's turn to laugh. "I really enjoy spending time with you", he said earnestly. Kurt sighed. Time to confess him something. "So do I, Adam. You see, in another universe I would love to date you. But I still love Blaine and I'm willing to give our relationship another chance", he said apologetically. Adam nodded understandingly. "I totally get it, you're already someone else's. This Blaine guy can consider himself lucky" His smile was forced. "But we can still hang out as friends, right?", Kurt asked. "Of course, of course", Adam stammered. Kurt linked arms with him. "Good. Otherwise it would be a shame because the two of us get along very well", he said happily. 'Apparently not well enough', Adam thought bitterly.

On the other side of the city, Rachel and Brody were walking on the streets of NYC with linked hands after their dinner at an Italian restaurant. Although it was almost 11 pm, the streets were still pretty crowded, and many shops were still open. Rachel sighed contentedly. She really loved that city. "And you are sure you don't want to return to Lima during holidays? Not just because I convinced you to stay here?", Brody asked his girlfriend. Rachel shook her head. "I would've stayed in New York anyway. You see, I'm not quite ready to see my ex again. On top of that, my dads are on business trips, so I don't really have a reason to go back to Ohio", she answered. Brody nodded slowly. "You didn't plan anything for your holidays? This are going to be two long weeks…", he mumbled. Rachel shrugged. "No problem. I can do some work for NYADA, then I won't have too much to do in the next term", she explained. "But don't overwork yourself, Rachel. I don't want you to burn out due to too much work", Brody said apprehensively. "Oh please, Brody. Hard work is my second name!", the petite brunette joked. Both of them laughed. Brody lead his girlfriend away from the main street into a side street which was dark and sinister. "Ermm Brody, where are we going?", Rachel asked him. "Oh, don't worry. This is just a shortcut. We will be at your apartment in no time", Brody reassured his girlfriend. "Okay. I trust you with that." Brody flinched slightly. Rachel didn't deserve what was about to happen to her. Why didn't he continue working as a prostitute? At this job, people had come to him because they wanted to, not the other way around. "Brody? I feel so tired all of a sudden…", Rachel suddenly mumbled. When her legs gave in, Brody caught her and easily lifted her in his arms, bridal style. "I'm so sorry, Rachel, but I have to do that…", he said apologetically and carried her to the car he had parked in the street hours ago. The brunette looked up to him, panic was written all over her face. "What are you up to? Oh no, Santana was right about you, she knew you were no good…", she mumbled, visibly forcing her eyes to stay open. She struggled to free herself from Brody's grip, but was too weakened. "Did you use knockout drops? Like Sebastian used them on Kurt?", Rachel slurred. Brody scrunched his nose up in confusion. "What are you talking about? Who is Sebastian?", he asked. Rachel was about to answer when she saw a familiar figure passing the side street. "KURT! HELP, HE WANTS TO KIDNAP ME!", she screamed as loud as she could. Brody immediately covered her mouth and walked faster towards his van.  
Kurt turned on his heels and looked down the dark side street. "Rachel?", he shouted. But he didn't get an answer. Maybe his mind played a trick on him. Kurt squinted towards the darkness. He thought he had seen someone, so he rushed down the street, turning on the flashlight of his phone. But he was too late. He heard the engine of a car and quickly hid behind a dumpster. When the car was passing him and he looked into the windshield, he froze. "Brody?", he whispered, shocked. Why would he kidnap Rachel?

Finn proudly sipped his coffee in the already empty teachers' lounge. Although it was late in the evening, he wanted to make plans for the glee club rehearsals. Finding matching mentors for the new NDs was a great idea. Now, the kids all had a matching role model they could look up to. He started thinking. Maybe he really should go to college, then he could be a real teacher like Mr. Schue. Finn was pulled out of his reverie when his phone suddenly rang. He furrowed his eyebrows. Who would call him this late in the evening? "Hello?" "Finn…something happened…", a voice sobbed on the other end of the line. "Kurt?", Finn asked incredulously. "What is it? What happened?", he asked, concerned. If Kurt was crying, then it had to be really, really bad. "Rachel…I think Brody kidnapped her. She might be in danger", his stepbrother told him, still sobbing. Finn almost dropped his phone. "Did you tell the cops?", he asked. "No… I doubt that they would believe me. After all, you can't do anything unless Rachel went missing for 24 hours", Kurt reminded him. Finn checked his watch. "Look, I'm coming over", he decided. "You…what?", the chestnut-haired boy sniffed. "I can't leave you alone with this. Besides, Rachel is still important to me no matter what happened between the two of us", Finn said. "But what about glee club? There is no need for you to come to New York. Blaine is already on his way…", Kurt told his stepbrother. "If you really are right and Brody kidnapped her, then he might be dangerous, even if you are with Blaine. And tomorrow is going to be Friday before the holidays start in high school, the kids can survive one day without me", Finn retorted. Kurt sighed deeply. "You are really determined to save Rachel, aren't you?" Finn just laughed bitterly.

After they hung up, Finn decided to text Puck.

_Finn: dude, sthg happened can u & Quinn pls take care of the glee kidz 2morrow? _

_Puck: wtf happend?_

_Finn: long story…_

_Puck: if I have 2 take care of annoyin teens I deserve an explanation_

_Finn: Kurt thinks that Rachel was kidnapped_

Puck immediately called Finn on his phone. "You serious? Someone kidnapped Berry? Who was it?", he asked. "Kurt has seen Brody taking her away with his car and until now, there is no life sign of her", Finn answered. "Maybe they are, you know, screwing right now…", Puck thought out loud. "Kurt told me that he, Santana and Rachel always warn each other when they want to stay the night at another person's place. But he got nothing from Rachel. Besides, he had heard her call for help when that guy dragged her to a deserted side street", Finn told his best friend. "Tonight, there are no flights to New York, but tomorrow in the morning, I will be gone" "And you are expecting me to stay here and chill? No way! I'm going to come with you", Puck said, determined. "Puck, dude, that's not…" "Oh, save your breath, Hudson. If you want to kick Weston's ass, then we have to do it together. I mean, that's what best buddies are for, right? And to be honest, Rachel may be annoying from time to time, but she is something like a sister to me." Finn sighed deeply. He was too tired to talk Puck out of this. "Alright, alright, I will text you the details of the flight…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that escalated quickly...
> 
> Stay tuned...


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

The next morning, Finn was honestly not too surprised to see the other gleeks at the airport as well. "What are you guys all doing here?", he asked anyway. "Puck told Quinn who told Santana who told Brittany who told Artie who told Mike who told Tina who told Mercedes who told me that Rachel was kidnapped", Sam summarized. Finn turned to him, Brittany, Tina and Artie. "You are supposed to be in school now", he said lamely. Artie laughed. "Blaine also flew with his parents to Wisconsin one week ago and Principal Figgins was fine with that. We only had to cry some fake tears and he let us go." Finn nodded slowly. Principal Figgins was so easy to fool, he should have known that. "But do you really think there are ten last minute tickets to New York now?", he asked them, still trying to find a reason to fly to NYC alone. Quinn started smirking. "Nice try, Finn. I already took care of that yesterday evening after we found out about Rachel. Luckily, there was a group of tourists who cancelled their flight tickets so there are enough places for all of us." Finn groaned. "So there is no way to convince you guys to stay here?", he said. His friends all shook their heads. "We all have to agree that Manhands is annoying as fuck, but she is still one of us", Santana answered. "One for all and all for one, or however that goes", Mercedes added. Again, Finn groaned. "I'm giving up! But if someone gets hurt, don't say I didn't warn you!"

Rachel blinked. Her head hurt so much. What had happened again? She slowly opened her eyes. She was lying on…glass? Did she once again drink too much and have a blackout? Because she didn't remember going to a glass platform. Suddenly, all of her memories came crushing down to her. Brody had drugged and then kidnapped her. But why? Now that she thought about it, she noticed that she was not breathing. Was she underwater? Rachel entirely opened her eyes and looked around. She was in a glass tank in an otherwise empty storeroom. A tank filled with water. She flicked her tail, swam into an upright position and hammered against the glass. Why was she here? It didn't matter, first, she had to free herself. Rachel smirked when realization dawned on her. The tank was made out of glass. Glass was _her_ element. She flicked her hands to shatter the glass, but nothing happened. She repeatedly tried again, but in vain. Why didn't it work? Eventually, she noticed a metal ring around her wrist. Maybe this was the reason why her powers didn't work. Rachel desperately tried to free herself from the ring, but it was too tight around her wrist. The brunette sighed and sank back to the ground of the tank. She realized that she was trapped and there was nothing she could do about it.

"And what is your plan? What are we going to do now?", Sam asked after they all had arrived at the apartment in New York. Blaine shrugged. "No idea, to be honest…." "Did you try to track Rachel's or Brody's phones?", Tina asked Puck and Artie. "Yes, but they are both offline. The last signal was on the side street were Kurt had seen them lastly", Artie explained. "That Brody guy knows what he is doing. He disappeared without a trace", Puck added. Finn ruffled his hair. "That's just great…", he groaned. The bell of the apartment rang. Kurt rushed over to the door and opened it. "Pamela! I'm so glad you could make it", he sighed and hugged her. The blonde entered. "If the friend of my protégé is in danger, then of course I will try to help you out. My firm is in New York anyway, I only needed to drive for one hour", she said softly and sat down on the couch. "Would you please tell me everything that happened? Kurt only told me one of your friends was kidnapped…", she frowned. The gleeks quickly gave her an update of the current situation. Pamela furrowed her eyebrows. "And that guy who did this, what is his full name again?", she asked. "Its Brody Weston", Finn informed her. Pamela paled instantly. "Pamela? What is it?", Quinn asked, concerned. "That name…Weston…I...I know it from somewhere", she stammered. "Brody Weston…he is a mermaid hunter."

Santana threw her hands up. "Mermaid hunter? Are you kidding me? Something like that even exists?", she said exasperatedly. "Unfortunately yes", Pam answered. "Mermaid hunters exist almost as long as mermaids themselves. For centuries, they have been hunting down our kind because of our powers and what we are able to do. In the past, there have been more of them, but now, the number of hunters is diminishing because people stopped believing in apparently mythical creatures. That doesn't mean that they are less dangerous. It's the opposite, actually: Modern technologies and networking are making it easier for them to find us." "That whole situation just seems to get better and better", Mike mumbled sarcastically. "I knew that Weston was up to something bad, I knew it!", Santana said. Finn was pacing up and down the living room. "If Brody is really a mermaid hunter, what is he going to do with Rachel?", he asked anxiously. "Is he going to kill her?", Tina whispered worriedly and paled. "Oh no…" Brittany had tears in her eyes. Sam took her in his arms and reassuringly rubbed her back. However, Pamela shook her head. "Mermaid hunters generally don't kill their prey; they are way too valuable for that. I don't want to sugarcoat Rachel's situation though; those people are probably going to do some nasty experiments with her. Probably even painful ones. Or they are going to do some other horrible things to her we don't even want to know. But we will make sure it won't happen", she reassured the gleeks. "And how?", Mercedes asked desperately. Pamela pulled out her phone and scrolled through her contacts. "Alice, Gwen and I have some contact people I can ask for favors, even some former mermaid hunters who are on our side now. Maybe they could somehow help us find the hideout were Rachel is trapped. Does someone have a laptop I could borrow?"

Rachel slowly dozed off. She had lost track of time. Honestly, she didn't care what the time was. She knew that Brody and his companions were up to something. Something bad, at least for her. If they wanted to kill her, they would have done it immediately. The brunette sighed. The only thing she could do now was waiting and hoping for the best. She was pulled out of her thoughts when two people entered the storeroom. "Rachel, may I introduce you to my boss who made all of that possible?", Brody said. Rachel's eyes widened. There was no way this person could be the boss of this dirty scheming…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you imagine who the boss is? ;)
> 
> Thanks to everyone who is still reading my crazy story! This story honestly helped me through a hard time and I'm more than happy that there are people actually reading this xD


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

"Thank you, Luna. You really helped us with your information", Pamela just said and hung up. She had made several phone calls, took notes and googled a lot of addresses which might be the hideout. Some hours later, they had crossed out possible hideouts and marked three ones which were most likely the one they were searching. In the meantime, Gwen and Alice were also in the apartment, helping to find Rachel. Gwen looked at her watch. "Our time is running low, so I suggest that we split up and then each group heads to one hideout", she said. Artie rolled to his laptop. "As sneaking around won't do for me, I will stay here and coordinate everything from my laptop. Finally, my knowledge from the summer IT-workshop is useful", he grinned. Pamela nodded. "Great idea, Artie. Okay, the rest of you will be split into search parties which will be led by either me, Gwen or Alice. Brittany, Blaine, Tina and Puck, you go with Gwen to the hideout in the north. Sam, Quinn and Mike, you go with Alice to the one in the west. Santana, Kurt, Finn and Mercedes will follow me to the one in the east. If one of the groups finds Rachel, then immediately contact the other groups so that they can come help you", she instructed. The others nodded before they all went to the door. "And be careful, kids. Just because you have powers, that doesn't mean you are invincible or something. Those hunters know exactly what they are doing, and they won't hesitate to harm you or Rachel", Alice warned them before the groups were parting ways.

The group led by Pamela arrived at a deserted warehouse in the woods. Artie led them to a spot far away from the warehouse were Pam could park her car without being seen. Currently, the group of five was carefully sneaking to the warehouse, avoiding making too much noise with the crackling leaves and the branches on the ground. "Do you really think Rachel is here?", Finn whispered to Pamela, eyeing the seemingly deserted and abandoned building. She nodded. "I think so. It is highly probable according to Gwen, and Gwen is really smart." They sneaked around, searching for a back entrance which they finally found. Pamela carefully turned the doorknob, but the door didn't move. "Crap, it's locked. What now?", Finn said desperately. Kurt shook his head. "That's what we have powers for, Finn", he smiled, lifted his hand and turned it. The door clicked and Pamela tried again. This time, the door opened. "Good thinking, Kurt!", she praised the chestnut-haired boy. The group carefully entered the warehouse and Mercedes quietly closed the door behind her. _-Don't forget, now that we are in the building, we will communicate like that-_ , Pam reminded the group. If they communicated telepathically, nobody could hear or find them, it was safer like that. The group carefully went down the hallway, until the hallway turned into five ones. _-What now?-_ , Santana asked. _-I'm afraid we have to split up or else those people will notice we are here. Everyone takes one hallway and contact us if you need help. In case of emergency, send a signal to Artie and we will all be there in no time. Don't even try to play the lone fighter even if you think you can handle it alone-,_ Pamela warned her teammates. The others nodded obediently before parting ways.

Finn went down his hallway and quickly hid behind a corner when he heard voices. He sighed. Apart from telepathy with the others, he didn't have any powers and couldn't turn invisible like his friends. He had to rely on his instincts and hide the conventional way. He continued his path until he suddenly heard something. Was that…water? Finn headed to the door in front of him and opened it. He peeked around- and saw Rachel. She was trapped in a closed tank full of water, lying on the ground. The boy quickly entered. The brunette's eyes widened when she saw her ex and she excitedly swam into an upright position. When he was about to say something, Rachel raised her finger to her mouth, motioning him not to say anything. _-Be quiet, Finn. Those people might come again and then we are both screwed-_ , she told him telepathically as she could not talk underwater. Finn angrily balled his hands into fists. _-Where the hell is he?! Where is that asshole?!-_ , he asked, fuming. _-Finn, please calm down. They are really dangerous…-_ , Rachel pleaded. The boy's facial expressions softened, and he came over to the tank. _-What have they done to you? Did they hurt you?-_ , he asked her. Rachel looked down. Finn walked closer to her and touched the glass. _-Please, Rachel. Tell me what they have done.-_ The brunette sighed, swam closer to the glass and showed him her tail. Some of her soft violet scales were missing and some spots were bruised or even swollen. _-It's not as bad as it looks, I swear. My scales will grow back in no time. Brody said that he would make sure they won't hurt me that much and he kept that promise. It could've been much worse-_ , she tried to reassure Finn who had a pained expression on his face. _-He shouldn't have kidnapped you in the first place-_ , Finn thought, mad. Suddenly, the both of them heard someone applauding. "Congrats, Rachel's ex, you have found our hideout", Brody said, grinning somewhat evilly. Finn angrily turned to the other guy. "I will kill you, you asshole", he growled. Brody laughed wholeheartedly. "I would like to see that. Come on, what are you waiting for? Bite me", he mocked Finn. That was the final straw. Lividly, Finn leapt to the mermaid hunter.

The hallway was never ending, or so Kurt thought. He was still walking down the hallway, occasionally turning invisible when some people passed by. Finally, he came to a staircase. Kurt frowned and went up the stairs. The stairs were only leading to a door. The chestnut-haired boy laid one ear on the door, eavesdropping and checking if there was nobody inside. After he made sure the room in front of him must be empty, he carefully entered. The room was an office, its walls were made out of glass. Kurt sneaked to the walls and looked down. He gasped. Right there, on the lower level, he could make out Rachel in a tank. Finn was standing beside the tank, reaching out for the glass of the tank. Kurt furrowed his eyebrows. Why didn't Finn tell them he found Rachel? Kurt quickly retrieved his phone and texted Mercedes that he found Rachel, then, he sent his location to Artie, telling him to send the other groups there. When he was about to leave, Kurt saw Brody entering the hall and talking to Finn. 'I probably should help him', Kurt thought and wanted to turn around in order to leave the office. "Kurt? What are you doing here?", a familiar voice asked him all of a sudden, sounding surprised. Kurt froze and slowly turned around. "Adam?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned...


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Mercedes retrieved her phone from her pocket. Once again, she forgot to remove the silent mode, that always happened to her. She gaped when she saw four unread texts from Kurt.

_Kurt: I've found Rachel. She is in the main hall_

_Kurt: Finn is also with her. Why didn't he tell us?_

_Kurt: Someone is coming. I'm in the main office on the first floor_

_Kurt: hlp  
_

Mercedes frowned. Kurt barely used abbreviations. If he did, then something had to be wrong. Suddenly, she heard footsteps. When Mercedes was about to turn herself invisible, she heard a voice. _-Can anyone hear me?-_ The black girl recognized Santana's voice. _-I'm here, Santana-_ , she answered and went to the corner when she suddenly bumped into someone else. _-Mercedes? Oh thank god, I thought it was one of these hunters-_ , Pamela said, relieved. Santana headed to the two other mermaids. _-Did you hear anything from the others?-_ , she asked . Mercedes nodded. _-Kurt sent me a text, telling me that he found Rachel and that Finn is with her. And then he sent me another text, saying that he needed help.-_ _-If that's the case, then we have to split up again. I'm going to check on Finn and Rachel and you two go and help Kurt. Artie told me that the others are on their way, so please try to be careful until they arrived here-_ , Pamela ordered her protégées. Mercedes and Santana nodded and headed to the direction of the staircase whereas the blonde headed to the main hall.

"If I were you, I would let that be", Brody said to Finn. He had easily dodged the attack of the former quarterback. _-Finn, please, don't do this. Brody is dangerous, he could seriously hurt you-_ , Rachel pleaded. But Finn didn't listen. He was about to leap to him again when Brody retrieved an oddly looking weapon from his belt. "What is that? One of these fake weapons I used as a child?", Finn asked him, one eyebrow cocked. Brody smirked evilly and pulled the trigger. A sharp dart flew to Finn's direction, but he quickly ducked down and the dart missed its target. "Not bad, Hudson", Brody said. "Leave him alone!", another voice called out. Rachel, Finn and Brody turned their heads. Pamela was standing on the doorway, hands on her hips. The mermaid hunter smirked mischievously. "Today seems to be my lucky day. You are a mermaid, aren't you?", he asked her. Pamela cocked her eyebrow. "How could you tell?", she wanted to know. "Call it my sixth sense. That's also how I knew Rachel was one." Brody turned back to the brunette. "No offence, Rachel, but it was really obvious to me you are a mermaid. Your constant fear of water or wet things, you being cautious on full moons…the list goes on and on." Pamela glared at him. "You are unbelievable! How can you do that to your girlfriend?" Brody shrugged. "I feel bad, to be honest. But what can I do? I really need the money and continuing with my old job was out of question", he explained and lifted his weapon. "But enough small talk. You are starting to annoy me, so I have to do something about it." _-Why don't you use your powers?-_ , Finn asked Pam. _-I can't. Other than Artie, I need an electric source, but that guy doesn't have anything like that neither does the hall. Those mermaid hunters are really smart-_ , she answered. Brody shot another dart, but both of them dodged it. _-Get out, Finn!-_ , Pam thought. _-No way! I won't let you and Rachel down!-_ , he answered. _-It's okay, Finn. I will find a way out. Obviously, Brody doesn't know about you and we have to use it to our advantage. I don't want him to hurt you!-,_ Rachel said insistently. Finn went over to her tank and touched the glass. _-I will never let you down again. Never!-_ , he told her. _-Oh Finn…-_ , Rachel said softly, affectionately touching the other side of the glass. All of a sudden, her eyes widened. _-Finn, watch out!- ,_ she warned him. Brody was shooting at his direction, but Finn saw it too late. Suddenly, someone pushed him to the side and Finn fell to the floor. Shortly after, he heard a scream of pain. "Pamela!", he shouted. The blonde had pushed him aside and as a result, the dart had hit her. After her scream, the blonde immediately passed out and fell to the floor. Brody pulled the trigger again and Finn prepared himself from the impact. But it never came. "What the heck? I ran out of darts!", Brody frowned and laid the weapon down next to him. "But that's no problem. I can take on you without weapons as well", the mermaid hunter said, grinning diabolically.

Santana and Mercedes headed up the stairs to the door. The Latina wanted to enter, but Mercedes motioned her to wait. _-We have to be careful. We don't know who that person is and what he or she is able to do-_ , the black mermaid reasoned. The two of them carefully opened the door and eavesdropped.  
"You still didn't answer what you are doing here, Kurt", Adam said, crossing his arms. Kurt crossed his arms too. "I could ask you the same. Why are you keeping Rachel a prisoner?", he asked. Adam sighed deeply. "I'm not supposed to tell you this." Kurt snorted. "And I thought we were friends…" The British student lifted his hands defensively. "We are, that's exactly why I don't want to drag you into all this mess", he confessed. "Well, too late. I demand an explanation, or else, I will go to the police and tell them everything I know", Kurt threatened. Adam sighed. "It's a long story, actually. Do you want to sit?" "No." _-Kurt? Can you hear me?-_ , Mercedes asked him. Kurt flinched slightly. _-Mercedes?- -Yes, and Santana. We are waiting outside in case you need us, Lady Lips-_ , the Latina informed him. _-Thank you, guys-_ , Kurt answered. "Kurt? Are you okay? You look thoughtful", Adam just said to him. Kurt smiled to himself. If Adam only knew..."Yes, yes I'm fine. Now spill", he demanded. Adam sat down at his desk. "Long story short: the Crawfords, my family, have been mermaid hunters for centuries. I've been trained to be one since I was ten. My parents have a lot of HQs all over the world and since they can't be everywhere at the same time, they sent me to the US to manage this one", he explained and leaned back on his chair. Kurt glared at him. "Does that mean Brody is working for you?" "Exactly", Adam nodded coyly. "You see, all of this empire could've been yours too if you gave me a chance." The blue-eyed student was visibly fuming. "And you think I would want that? This horrible scheming? These people you hunt down have feelings too, you know", Kurt spat. _-Crawford is dumber than a sack of hammers. He is the boss of a bunch of mermaid hunters and doesn't even notice that one of his friends, who is standing right before him, is a merman-_ , Santana laughed. "Let Rachel go! She is my friend. I give you a chance to solve this peacefully: You let her go and we forget all of this ever happened", Kurt offered. _-You serious, Hummel? You want to let him get away like that?-_ , Santana asked. _-Be quiet, Santana. We have to trust Kurt, I think he knows what he is doing…-_ , Mercedes retorted. Adam laughed. "You really think it is that easy? You think I enjoy what I'm doing? Thanks for the offer, but no thanks. I'm sorry about Rachel, I really am, but I have to prove to my parents that I'm good enough as their successor. They are disappointed enough that I want to become a Broadway-artist, I have to make up for that", he explained bitterly. Kurt snorted. "If that's the case, then I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore." Kurt wanted to pass by Adam, but the latter one gripped his arm. "I'm afraid I can't let you go like that. You know way too much", he said. "Let me go, Adam", Kurt said in a dangerously low voice. He tried to rip his arm away, but Adam was stronger than he looked from the outside. "I'm sorry, Kurt. I really like you, but you are a threat", he explained apologetically. Kurt could already feel his anger well up. All of a sudden, all vases and water bottles in the room exploded, and the faucet sprayed water. Adam, surprised, let go of Kurt, who carefully navigated the water away from him. "What was that?", the Briton asked, astonished. He looked over to Kurt as realization dawned on him. "I'm so stupid. It was you! You are one of them!", Adam called out. "Damn, are Europeans always so slow?", Santana scoffed, finally entering the office with Mercedes. Adam turned around. "What are you doing here?", he asked, surprised. "Our intention is to kick your ass", Santana grinned. She stomped her foot and the ground underneath Adam trembled so that he fell down. The mermaid hunter looked up. "Let me guess: You two are also mermaids?", he frowned. "You got that damn straight, white boy. But in addition, we are very pissed off mermaids", Mercedes answered in a sassy tone. She squinted towards the vase and its flowers started growing incredibly fast until they turned into gigantic tendrils. Those tendrils tied Adam up and he couldn't move. Kurt went over to his friends. "Well, thank you. But that wasn't necessary. I had everything under control", he said coolly. Santana cocked her eyebrow. "Yeah, we could see that", she answered sarcastically. All of a sudden, the water sprinklers on the ceiling started to sprinkle water to the whole office. "What the hell? There is no fire, so why the sprinklers?", Kurt wondered as he fell down. Adam, who somehow freed himself from the plants, grinned. "This is a hideout for mermaid hunters. Do you really think we are not prepared in case merpeople decide to break in here?" He showed the trio the display of his phone. "With my phone, I can set off the sprinklers anytime. If you excuse me, I have to sort things out." Adam carefully avoided the tails when he went to the door. "Not so fast, Prince William!", Santana shouted and flicked her hands. She frowned when nothing happened. Adam amusedly looked over to her when she repeatedly tried to use her powers. "Why is it not working, you son of a bitch?!", the Latina screamed. "You see, I have certain materials inside the walls that block your powers as well. They are active now, so have fun drying off in my now humid office", Adam winked naughtily, went out the door and locked it. "Come back, you son of a bitch!", Santana screeched, but the British student was already gone. "Well, this is just great!", Mercedes huffed and frustratedly flicked her soft pink tail. "Yes, tell me about it", Kurt muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Doesn't look so great for our heroes right now...


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Finn desperately looked over to Brody. "Let Rachel go, okay, man? You can take me instead, but please release her", he begged. The mermaid hunter looked unimpressed. "Why would I be interested in you?", he snorted. _-Finn, stop it. If Brody finds out about you, you will be in danger as well!-_ , Rachel warned. _-If there is a way to get you out of here, then I have to try-_ , Finn insisted. He looked Brody in the eyes. "You want a merperson? Take me", he said bravely. Brody looked at him - and started laughing, much to Finn's and Rachel's surprise. "You are a merman? Nice try. No offence, but I would've noticed it", the mermaid hunter snorted. Finn incredulously cocked his head to the side. "You don't believe me?", he asked, stunned. "How can I? You see, I've observed merpeople quite a long time. When they are in danger, they use their powers, like your friend over there did", he explained and pointed at the Pamela, who was still lying on the floor, unconscious. Finn looked down. "Actually, I don't know what my powers are. I doubt that I even have some", he mumbled, ashamed. Brody laughed even louder. "A merperson without powers? Oh please, you must be kidding me, right?", he giggled. Finn confusedly watched Brody while he cracked up. Finally, the mermaid hunter composed himself, wiping some of his tears of laughter away. "Enough of that. Thank you for making me laugh like that, you made my day", he chuckled and retrieved a gun from his belt. "I totally forgot that I have another weapon. But now, I have to leave, and I will take Rachel with me", he said slowly, pointing the gun at Finn. "What are you going to do with her?", Finn wanted to know. Brody shrugged. "I don't know, ask our scientists. I think they are going to cut her open or rip out more of her scales for analysis", he said as if it was normal. Finn flinched and anxiously looked over to Rachel, but she just nodded reassuringly. _-Its okay, Finn. As long as those people don't hurt those I care about, I'm ready to sacrifice myself.-_ "No its not okay!", Finn shouted. This was not how it was supposed to be. That Brody guy couldn't just get away with it. Why did the bad guys always win? It was not fair. Finn felt his anger well up. Along with this anger, an unfamiliar energy inside him built up. Something inside him told him to release that energy, so he did. Suddenly, a strong blast shook the entire building and a strong shock wave threw Brody to the floor, knocking him out. The shock wave caused the tank's glass to shatter into shards and the water ran down the floor, causing Rachel to fall down. "Rachel!", Finn shouted and ran over to her, carefully avoiding the water. "Finn, silly", the brunette reprimanded her ex, but smiled faintly. Finn carefully kneeled down without getting wet, quickly took off his jacket and covered Rachel with it who was wearing nothing but her top. "Finn! Rachel! There you are!", Tina shouted. Both of them turned around. Tina, Puck and Gwen were heading to their direction. "How did you know I was here?", Rachel asked them. "Kurt told Artie and then, he sent us here", Puck explained. Gwen looked over to Pamela and Brody lying on the floor, unconscious. "What the hell happened here?", she wanted to know. "Finn discovered his powers", Rachel said proudly. The doctor retrieved some ropes from her backpack and tied Brody up. Then, she walked over to Pamela and examined the dart which was still stuck in her thigh. "That dart contains narcotic substances. Pam will wake up soon, don't worry.", she reassured the gleeks. "But she needs medical help now, as a precaution. I will take care of that" She nodded to Puck. "You have a lot of muscles, so please carry her to my car, I have a first aid kit. Rachel, after you dried off, come to my car too and I will have a look at you." With that, she walked away with the mohawk-haired boy who held the blonde in his arms. "Where are the others?", Finn asked Tina, who was busy drying Rachel's tail. "Mike, Sam, Quinn and Alice take care of the other mermaid hunters in this building, but those people are no match to Brody as far as I know. Blaine and Brittany are helping Kurt because he texted that he needed help or something.", Tina answered. Finn frowned. They had defeated Brody, one of the dangerous hunters, so why did his brother still need help?

"My life sucks", Santana whined and flicked her orange tailfin. Kurt rolled his eyes. "Tell me something I don't know." "Guys! Stop it!", Mercedes ordered her friends. "We need to figure out how we get out of here." Santana looked around. "How? We can't use our powers, the floor is wet as fuck thanks to the sprinklers and we are locked in.", she said bitterly. Kurt looked up. "Do you hear that? Voices! But not just any voices!", he said happily when he recognized Brittany's and Blaine's. "Help!", Mercedes screamed, dragged herself to the door and hammered against it. Santana followed suit. "Mercedes? Santana?", Blaine said from outside. "Use your powers to open the door! Inside, our powers are blocked!", Kurt shouted. The door clicked and shortly after, Blaine and Brittany entered. "Fucking finally!", Santana sighed. The blonde and the dark-haired boy dragged their friends to the hallway, where they were able to use their powers again to dry off their tails. "Tina texted me that they found Rachel and that they have tied up Brody. Finn somehow knocked him out with his powers", Blaine told his friends. Kurt's eyes widened. "I've felt a tremble, so that was him?" Brittany nodded. "Apparently, he can create shockwaves or something like that." When his legs reappeared, Kurt got up. "I'm happy for Finn. He has finally discovered his powers.", he sighed contentedly. Santana nodded approvingly. "Shockwaves, heh? I have to admit I'm a little bit jealous", she laughed. Mercedes looked around anxiously. "Can we please get out now? This place is giving me the creeps", she admitted. The group of five quickly went down the stairs - and ran straight into Finn. Kurt went to him and glared daggers. "So much for lone fighter. Why didn't you contact us after you have found Rachel? What if you didn't discover your powers in time? What the hell were you thinking?", he said angrily. Finn looked down. "Yeah, sorry about that. When I saw Rachel was hurt, my brain stopped working", he admitted bashfully. "When was it ever working?", Santana mumbled under her breath. Kurt sternly looked at his brother. "I can imagine. But don't do this ever again, okay?" Finn nodded obediently. "Yes, sir", he joked.

The six of them were about to leave the building when another person stepped in front of the exit. "Do you want to leave already?", Adam asked. Kurt glared at him. "Give it up, Adam. Our friends already took care of your minions." The British student lifted his hands in surrender. "Actually, I'm here to suggest a truce. Mermaid hunting was never really appealing to me and I'm not really good at it either as you have noticed." Blaine skeptically quirked his triangularly shaped eyebrows. "Why the sudden change of heart? Because you are defeated?", he asked. Adam sighed. "Its not sudden, actually. I've always thought about an alliance between mermaid hunters and mermaids, but my parents talked me out of it. After I have seen how my people treated Rachel and the other captured merpeople, I was shocked. You see, I was always in my office, without seeing how they were actually treated.", he explained. "My parents are getting older and I will take over the business soon. I will make sure that hunters and merpeople will work together and put an end to that long-lasting hostility, I promise. We can help you with our technologies and you can help us with your powers", Adam suggested. Santana angrily balled her fists. She was still pissed because he had trapped her. "And you expect us to believe you? Forget it!" She was about to lift her hands and attack Adam with her powers, but Finn stopped her. "Santana, chill." He took one step towards Adam. "And how do we know we can trust you?", he asked him. "I have a lot of mermaid hunters here in New York woking for me. They could've been here in no time to take you down, but I didn't call any of them. As you've noticed, this place is still quite deserted", he answered. "That kind of makes sense…", Mercedes mumbled. "I will make sure that none of the hunters will harass you, Brody included, okay?", Adam promised. Finn balled his hands. "I would like to kick that guy's ass anyway after what he had done to Rachel", he growled. Kurt patted his shoulder. "I think you already did with your powers. Let it be, Finn. You are one of the good guys, remember?", he said softly. Finn groaned, but nodded. "So we have a deal?", Adam asked and held out his hand. Kurt took it and they shook hands. "Deal.", he said. Santana glared at him. "And don't even think about breaking it, Crawford, or I will make sure you will never see the light of the next day", she threatened. Adam nodded. "Don't worry. I am a man of his word."

The gleeks and Adam parted ways when the former mermaid hunter went to his car and drove away. "Guys, please wait for me, I forgot something in the building", Finn said to his friends and headed back inside. He went straight to the main hall where Brody was still lying, but Adam had untied the ropes in the meantime. Finn kneeled down and shook him. Brody blinked, quickly sat up and looked around. "Where is Rachel?", he asked immediately. "In safety.", Finn simply answered. "Listen, Brody, you will never, ever go near Rachel again, do you understand? Don't harass her, don't talk to her and don't even look at her. If you don't do what I say, then I will come over to New York and kill you with my bare hands. You know what my powers are, and you don't want to know how dangerous they can be when I'm at my worst, do you, now?", he growled . Brody shook his head, intimidated. Finn got up. "Good. You know, I initially wanted to beat the crap out of you, but I promised my stepbrother not to do it because I'm supposed to be better than you scumbag. It's indeed your lucky day, Weston." He wanted to walk away, but Brody grabbed his arm. "Don't tell me what to do", he hissed. Finn angrily ripped his arm away and punched Brody in the jaw. The mermaid hunter fell down, finally defeated. "You better do what I say, are we clear? Stay away from my future wife!", Finn warned him before leaving the building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brody is defeated, yay! I hope you are not too disappointed, but I think it would be too OOC of Adam to be entirely evil. I actually liked him in the series (but Klaine is still my OTP). So I solved it like that. Hope you liked it ;)  
> PS: Yup, I've added Dani and Elliott to the characters. They are going to be important later on...


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place between the end of season 4 and the beginning of season 5.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Adam really stayed true to his words, there were no hunters harassing the gleeks anymore. "And what if your parents find out what you are doing?", Kurt asked him. They were sitting at the campus of NYADA with their cups of coffee and discussing their future. Adam scoffed and dumped some more sugar into his coffee. "To be honest, they don't even care anymore. They only care about their holidays on the Fiji Islands or which Lamborghini father is going to buy next. I'm more or less running this whole business alone", he laughed bitterly. "That's why I want to return to England. Our main HQ is located there, and I need to be there to manage everything." Kurt nodded slowly. That made sense. "And what about NYADA?", he asked the British student. Adam took a sip of his coffee, thoughtful. "There are so many great arts colleges in England too, so I don't think I have to worry about that. Maybe one day, when I sorted things out, then I will return to the US." "And when are you going to leave the States?", Kurt wanted to know. "Next week, I will be gone.", Adam answered. He looked up from his cup and looked Kurt straight in the eyes. "Look, Kurt, I understand if you will never forgive me, but I hope, I can make up what happened. If you ever need anything, then let me know", he offered and got up. Kurt just nodded. What he did to one of his closest friends was indeed inexcusable. Until now, Rachel still had nightmares, he and even Santana had to soothe her many times at night when she once again woke up, screaming and crying. Until now, she refused to tell them what those people had done to her when she was held captive, but Kurt could imagine how terrible and disturbing it must have been. In addition to that, she was a bit paranoid as well, which was understandable after what happened to her. "You are right, it will take a lot of time to forgive you, if I will ever be able to do that. But I can see that you regret what you have done, and that's something. Goodbye, Adam", Kurt said icily, getting up as well. "Goodbye, Kurt", Adam sighed and walked away.

_-Some weeks later-_

"Are you sure you want to marry Kurt? You are still in high school, man", Sam grumbled and flicked his turquoise tail. The two friends were in the moonpool were Blaine had hidden the box with the engagement ring. The curly haired boy turned the item in his hands and rolled his eyes, something he did not that often. "You sound just like all the others. 'Don't marry him, you are still too young, you have your whole lives ahead of you, blah blah blah.' But I know for sure that Kurt is the one for me and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. Why do I have to wait?" "Because", Sam reasoned. Blaine grinned. "You don't even have a good reason. Look, I will propose to Kurt, whether you will like it or not. I even asked Mr. Hummel, and he was fine with that", Blaine told his friend. Sam frowned. "Actually, he wasn't-" "-I said _he was fine with that_ ", Blaine sternly cut him off. The blond boy defensively lifted his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. But don't tell me I didn't warn you or something", he mumbled. Blaine laughed. "I don't think that will be necessary. But I'm flattered you worry about me, that's why you are going to be the perfect best man."

Blaine finally proposed to Kurt while all of their friends and families were present, and he said yes. Rachel had tears in her eyes when the newly engaged people kissed each other passionately. Finn was the only one who was absent because there had been a last-minute emergency in the garage, and he had to take care of that. The brunette looked over to her gay friends. Maybe she and Finn were ready to give their relationship another chance, just like Kurt and Blaine. Since that incident with the mermaid hunters, she had been thinking a lot. She was scared to death when she was trapped in the tank, weakened and injured, but Finn was right there, refusing to leave her. Maybe Finn wasn't aware, but what he had done meant so much more to her than he thought. Rachel retrieved her phone from her purse and texted Finn to meet her at the Lima Bean asap.  
Rachel nervously tapped her fingers on the table when Finn burst into the café. "Finn, I…" "Rachel! I have great news! Do you remember the students' exchange program? My professor landed me a place in the exchange program for promising students!", Finn broke the news to the brunette. Ever since Puck gave him the wakeup call, he had started to take his studies more seriously and had been studying hard to get good grades. Surprisingly, it turned out that he was actually an excellent student and he soon became one of the best ones. One of his professors had signed him up for an exchange program for aspiring students, but he thought he would never get a place because freshmen normally never did. "One of the chosen students decided to give up her place because she was pregnant or something, so they gave me the place instead!", Finn beamed. Rachel excitedly hugged her friend. "That's great, Finn! I know how much you wanted to take part at this exchange program. Where is it going to be? And how long?" "Thailand for half a year!", Finn answered, even more excited. Rachel's face fell, but the former quarterback didn't notice. "I will attend their college and after some months, I can help out in schools of the poorer quarters. I never have been the most social person, but that sounds somehow exiting to me, like a new adventure! Finally, I can get out of Lima", he said, thrilled. "That's…that's great…" Rachel tried to smile, but this smile didn't quite reach her eyes. Finn frowned. "Rachel? I know that look, is there a problem?", he asked her, concerned. The brunette sighed. "Before you broke the news to me, I wanted to ask you whether we could try it again. But I think that wouldn't be reasonable if you were that far away." Finn took her hands. "Says who? I mean, Kurt and Blaine also made it work somehow. Look, they are engaged now!", he grinned. "Yes, but Blaine almost cheated on Kurt _because_ of the distance. Besides, New York is only a few hours away. But Thailand…there is an entire ocean between us!", Rachel exclaimed. Finn grimaced. "You know, I can always swim over to you or you to me-" "-Stop it, Finn!", Rachel interrupted him with tears in her eyes. "How can you do this to me? Call me selfish, but you can't just leave me like that! After we went through that whole disaster with Brody and the mermaid hunters, I thought I meant something to you. When I was in the tank back then and I was scared, you were there by my side, promising to never let me down again. I thought we had a future, but maybe, I was wrong!" With that, Rachel got up and stormed out of the Lima Bean. "Rachel! Wait!", Finn shouted. But the brunette was already gone.

That was the last time Rachel talked to Finn before he headed to Thailand. She ignored his phone calls and his messages; she didn't even come when all of his friends and his family went to the airport to say goodbye. There was no need to talk to him anymore, he had decided to leave, and she respected his decision. Something inside her told her that this journey wouldn't be without consequences, but maybe she was just hurt. At that time, Rachel didn't know how right she was…

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there Finn goes...


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

The day started just like any others. Kurt had dance lessons in Cassandra July's class, trying hard to concentrate. After Santana had discovered she had sex with Brody, Kurt just couldn't look at her the same way as he used to. During the break, he retrieved his phone from his locker. He was afraid to take his phone to classes because Ms. July once made one of her students cry and even kicked him out of classes when his phone vibrated. Kurt frowned when he saw that his dad tried to call him more than ten times. Did something happen? Maybe his dad didn't recover from cancer like the doctor said. Kurt quickly dialed his dad's phone number. "Dad did something bad happen to you?", he asked anxiously when Burt finally picked up the phone. "To me? No, you don't need to worry about me. It's Finn…", he said, sounding nervous. "What did he do? Did he get kicked out of the exchange program?", Kurt asked, smirking. That would be so Finn. If he was able to accidently shoot himself, then he was capable of really anything. Burt sighed deeply. "When was the last time you checked the news, kiddo?" The chestnut-haired boy frowned. "I don't know…a couple of days ago…", he answered. "Look, Kurt, please don't freak out, okay?", Burt said. "Okay, now you are scaring me. What happened?", Kurt asked once again. "You see, there has been an unexpected tsunami in the south of Asia. Although it wasn't that bad and there haven't been a lot of confirmed deaths, there has been a lot of damage in the cities…" Kurt paled. "Dad, what happened to Finn? Is he dead?", he whispered anxiously. "I'm going to be honest, kid: We don't know. There have been a lot of people gone missing, and he is among them", Burt answered, trying to sound calm. "People told us that he saved a little girl and lifted her into a rescue boat when he bumped his head pretty badly and fell into the water. This was the last time anyone has seen him." Kurt swallowed the lump in his throat. "But maybe, he will reappear…", he croaked. "I don't want to crush your hopes, kiddo, but it doesn't look good right now. People who went missing had been washed ashore, dead", Burt told him. Kurt paled even more. Even if Finn couldn't drown, he was hurt and probably needed medical help. If that help came to late, then… No, he wouldn't think about it like that. He had to hope for the best.

Days passed, days turned to weeks, but still, there was no life sign of Finn. Rachel was an emotional wreck. Although she tried to be strong, there were a lot of moments where she just burst into tears. Kurt tried to stay optimistic, but it got harder every day. Finn was a merman; he could survive underwater. If he was still alive, why didn't he reappear? Maybe he was already dead, maybe he died the moment he bumped his head. Kurt shook his head. There was no dead body until now, so there was still hope, even if it was getting weaker day by day. The uncertainty was killing him. Where was Finn?

Unbeknownst to his family and friends, Finn was not dead. Yes, he bumped his head pretty badly, but he didn't die. When he tried to help the little girl, a strong wave hit him, and he bumped his back of his head on a stone before he fell into the water. The stream of water washed him into the open ocean, his hand got entangled with the rope of the anchor of the rescue boat in the process. With the anchor slowly tugging him to the bottom of the sea, Finn fell into a coma like state due to his head injury…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, guys, but I somehow had to get rid of Finn. Please don't hate me now, it will get better...


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Time passed without Finn reappearing and the gleeks desperately tried to move on with their lives. Santana found a new friend, and later even girlfriend, who worked at the Spotlight Diner as well. After a rocky start, Rachel, Santana, Dani and Kurt also befriended Elliott "Starchild", a passionate musician. "Can I ask you something? What are you two?", Rachel asked Dani and Elliott one day. After Dani had accidently seen Santana as a mermaid when she got splashed, she didn't even blink. Instead, she confessed that she was also like her, but in a different way. Shortly after, Elliott also confessed that he was special after he absentmindedly used his powers in front of Kurt and Rachel. The five of them were now gathered in the living room after band rehearsal, eating pizza. "Have you ever heard of selkies?", Dani asked. "Selkies…I think my mom told me tales about them when I was little. They are seals who can turn into humans when they shed their skin or something, right?", Kurt answered, frowning. Elliott shook his head and laughed. "Humans and their tale-telling…We don't shapeshift like that; we can turn into seals at will other than hybrids like you who change every time you touch water. But on full moons, it gets harder to control our shape shifting", he explained. "What is it with merfolk and full moons?", Santana huffed. Dani cocked her eyebrows. "What do you mean by that, babe?", she asked. "On full moons, Rachel, Santana, another friend of ours and I turn into sirens and all our other friends act weirdly as well", Kurt explained and grimaced when he remembered how his three friends discovered their siren powers. Elliott frowned. "I didn't know that the full moon affects mermaids too", he said. "And what are your special powers?", Rachel wanted to know. "Selkies in general have heightened senses; we can see or hear better than normal humans. But there are also individual powers for each selkie. Dani has super strength and I have super-fast reflexes", Elliott grinned. "That's so cool", Santana said in awe. "And what about you?", Dani wanted to know. "Our powers are more elemental-based. Santana has earth-manipulation, Kurt has control over water, and I can manipulate and turn things into glass. Other than that, we can use each other's powers to a certain extent and telepathically communicate with each other, which comes in handy while underwater", Rachel explained proudly. Elliott's and Dani's eyes widened. "That is awesome! And your high school friends are also like you?", the male selkie asked. Santana nodded. "Yup, also Hummel's fiancé and my ex and Berry's ex…" She trailed off when Rachel flinched after she mentioned Finn. "Everything okay, Rachel?", Dani asked, concerned. "My stepbrother and her ex-boyfriend disappeared after a tsunami in Thailand. He wanted to make a gap year at a Thai college and help poor children as a teacher. Until now, there is no life sign of Finn", Kurt explained, his voice was cracking. "I'm so sorry", Dani whispered with tears in her eyes. "Don't be. We don't know where he is now, so there is still hope he is alive", Rachel said softly. She took a deep breath and tried to smile. "So…do you have any new song suggestions?", she said, quickly changing the topic.

Finn's eyelids fluttered. He knew that he was not awake, but he could tell that he wasn't dead either. Somehow, he was not strong enough to wake up. It was like he was trapped underwater and couldn't swim to the surface, like that gay kid was with the surfboard back then. What was his name again? Why was everything so blurry in his mind? Why was it so hard to wake up? Was he hurt? He was aware that he needed to fight, but for some reason, his body was too weakened. Finn sighed inwardly. Today wouldn't be the day he woke up. Maybe tomorrow…

_-One and a half years later-_

Rachel was sitting on her bed, crying quietly. She had lost everything: Her TV-series, NYADA, Finn,… Right now, she felt more alone than ever before. She was devastated. How could she get things right? The brunette smiled faintly when she looked at the photo of Finn in her hands. He would have known what to do. She needed him more than ever before. With the photo in her hands, she finally fell asleep, thinking about nothing but Finn. She would give everything to talk to him right now...

Something formed in his mind. Finn looked up. All the time, he had been alone. The woman was beautiful with brown hair and hazel eyes. Her singing voice was stunning, but she had a sad expression on her face. Finn didn't know why, but he would do anything to make her smile. He tried to touch her, but she vanished every time he reached out for her. The woman turned to him. "I miss you so much, Finn. I need you more than you can imagine. Please come home to me", she pleaded. "I can't. I tried but I can't.", he answered desperately. "You need to fight it whatever keeps you asleep, Finn. Please, do it for me", the woman pleaded. The merman grimaced. He really tried, but it was so hard, and he felt so weak. "I'm sorry", he just said and walked away. The even sadder face expression of the woman tore his heart apart.

"Rachel! Rachel, wake up!" Kurt shook his friend who was fast asleep on the desk in the teachers' lounge of McKinley High. Rachel opened her eyes, feeling dizzy. What was that? "Why do you always fall asleep in the daytime lately?", he asked her, looking concerned. "Kurt, I've dreamt of Finn again. He is not dead, he is somewhere out there and needs help!", she said excitedly. Kurt shook his head, sad. "Finn is dead, Rachel. It's been one and a half years since he vanished and there is still nothing." Rachel got up. "But I've talked to him in my dreams. I can't remember a lot of it, but he told me that he was weak and couldn't do whatever he has to do to come back." Kurt sighed. "Maybe you are making this up in your head in order to deal with the situation" Rachel grabbed him by the shoulders. "No, I don't, Kurt. You have to believe me, okay? You really need to trust me with that" Kurt softly put her hands away from his shoulders. "Glee starts in a couple of minutes. We need to prepare everything." With that, he left the room. Rachel sighed deeply. Nobody believed her that she communicated with Finn in her dreams, not even Kurt. So, she had to deal with this alone in order to bring him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this is about Finn and Rachel lately, but this is really important for the storyline ;)
> 
> And also sorry about the time gap, but that's necessary because I don't want to beat around the bush...
> 
> The coma sequences are based by a real, former coma patient's experience, I'm not makin up everything ;)


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Rachel went to bed. It had been a while since she communicated with Finn. Although she would never admit it to herself, the part where she went to bed and talked to him was her highlight, even though her memories about it were so blurry afterwards. The brunette turned off the lights and closed her eyes.

Where was that mysterious woman? Finn waited and waited, but she didn't reappear. Maybe it was just an illusion. He felt so lonely and weak. Would he be trapped in this place forever? Suddenly, there was a bright light and the woman reappeared. "Whatever I said last time that hurt you, I'm so, so sorry. But please, don't leave me, I need you!", he pleaded. "No, I am sorry I left you. For some reason I couldn't come back for a while, but now, I'm here and I won't leave you again.", she promised and took Finn's hands. "We need to get out of here, okay?" Finn grimaced. He tried, he really tried, but he felt so weakened. Something was keeping him from leaving this place and he just couldn't fight it. As if she had read his mind, the woman shook her head. "No, Finn. You are not weak, you are strong. Please, do it, for me. I'm waiting for you; we still have enough time. Give me your hand and I will help you; I promise." Finn reluctantly took the brunette's hand. She smiled softly. "Now, try again. You need to wake up, Finn. We need you so much", she pleaded. Finn concentrated and walked towards the light, his limbs felt heavier after each step and he was short of breath. But the beautiful brunette reassuringly squeezed his hand and winked at him. "You can do this, Finn", she said, again and again. The light got brighter and brighter. Finn squinted towards the end. "Almost out, Finn. You need to hold on", the woman said softly. He took another, aching step forwards and reached a door. "Come on, Finn. You just need to open the door and then you are out. I'm so proud of you", the brunette smiled. She softly kissed him on the cheek and tugged him towards the door. "Now, go." Finn reluctantly opened the door. Before he entered, he turned around. "Thank you for everything. But will you tell me your name before I leave? And will you be there when I'm out?", he asked her. The woman smiled softly. "It's Rachel, my love. And I will always be by your side, I promise."

Finn's eyes flew open. He was…underwater? He was lying on the ground; kelp was surrounding him. His wrist was entangled with a rope which was entangled with an anchor. His whole body felt so heavy, he couldn't free himself. What was he going to do now? Suddenly, he felt something nudging him. Finn turned his head to the side. A seal was nudging him. Shortly after, another, larger seal swam to his direction. The merman frowned. Maybe they could help him? These animals were his only hope at the moment. He pointed to his wrist with the rope and made a breaking sign with his hands. The first seal, seemingly understanding his plea, opened its mouth and started gnawing on the rope with its surprisingly sharp teeth. Soon, the second seal followed suit. Finn cocked his eyebrows. Those animals were surprisingly smart. After a while, the seals had gnawn through the rope and Finn was finally free. He rubbed his sore wrist. "Thank you", he mouthed. However, he still didn't know how he could swim to the surface. His tailfin felt like it weighted a thousand tons, there was no way he could move without help. Finn looked over to the seals with a pleading face expression. The seals understood what he was meaning and each of them swam over to one side of the merman. Finn clasped his arms around the seals' bodies and together, they slowly swam to the surface because the still weakened Finn needed to pause a lot. After they surfaced, Finn took a deep breath of air. He really missed breathing. The seals nudged him to a direction and with their help, Finn somehow swam to the shore of a deserted, small island. Except of that island, there was no land far and wide. The seals pushed Finn to the shore and dragged themselves out of the water as well. Suddenly, the bodies of the seals turned into water and their shapes changed. Their bodies got taller and slimmer. Finn gasped. What the hell was happening with those animals? After a while, their skins changed from water-blue to flesh-colored. Finn gaped when their limbs became longer and longer until they turned into legs and arms. After the metamorphosis was done, there was a young man and a young woman standing in front of him. "What the hell?", Finn exclaimed. "Dude don't tell me you have never heard of selkies!", the woman said and put her hands on her hips. Finn just shook his head. The guy laughed. "You are a weird merman. We are practically family", he joked. After Finn's tail disappeared, he sat up, cross-legged. "Who are you guys anyway?", he wanted to know. "The name's Elliott, but you can also call me Starchild", Elliott grinned. Finn shook his head. "Nope, I probably won't", he said. The woman laughed. "I already like that guy." She kneeled down and held out her hand. "I'm Dani and I'm the normal one among the two of us", she said, smiling. "Finn", he introduced himself. He looked back and forth between the two selkies. "And are you guys…dating?", he asked them, frowning. Both of them blushed instantly. "Of course not!", they exclaimed at the same time. Finn cocked his eyebrows. "I mean, we are both bi, but that doesn't mean that we have to be a couple or something", Elliott explained. "Yes, besides, I prefer women, although my last break up still hurts…" Dani looked sad all of a sudden. "No offence, Elliott", she mumbled. Elliott compassionately patted her shoulder. "It's okay, Dan. My last crush was unrequited, that also hurt a lot. But hey, we are here to forget all this, right?", Elliott tried to lighten the mood. Finn frowned. "What exactly brings you here?", he wanted to know. "After our hearts had been broken, the two of us decided to take a timeout. We change into our seal forms and explore the ocean all around the world. We have been to the Antarctic or to the Great Barrier Reef as well", Dani said proudly. "And where exactly are we now?", Finn asked. Dani shrugged. "I don't know…Somewhere in the Indian Ocean…far away from any human civilization, that's for sure." Finn paled. "Why were you even trapped down there?", Elliott asked. "I don't know to be honest. I only know that I was out for a while", the merman answered. "And how long have you been out?", Elliott wanted to know. Finn shook his head. "I have no idea…" Dani sat down next to him, so did Elliott. "When exactly did you pass out?", the female selkie queried. "I don't know…around May?", Finn answered. "And the year?", Elliott asked. "It's still 2013, isn't it?", Finn said. Elliott and Dani exchanged worried glances. "What?", Finn asked. "Please don't freak out, man", Elliott warned him. Finn's eyes widened. "Why?" He hoped those people weren't about to answer what he thought it was. "Actually, today is the 17th of January 2015…", Dani mumbled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if that seems a little bit unrealistic with the whole coma thing, but hey, it's a fantasy story. Everything will be explained, there is a reason why Finn didn't die. And to be honest, the series was not always realistic as well *cough cough* season five and six *cough cough*


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything

"Actually, today is the 17th of January 2015…", Dani mumbled. "That explains why you have difficulties moving your body. Former comatose people like you need to get used to using their muscles again if you have been in a coma for one year and eight months", she reasoned. Finn paled instantly. "I have been in a coma for almost two years?! For me, it only felt like two weeks or something…", he murmured, shocked. Dani's eyes widened. "And how the hell could you survive without eating or something?", she gasped. Although Finn looked too skinny, he didn't seem to be starving. The merman just shrugged, perplex. Elliott got up and turned to his female companion. "We need to get him to a hospital or something", he said to Dani. "But how? We are in the middle of the Indian Ocean, there is nothing but water here. And he is still too weak to swim to the next coast even with our help", she answered. "We don't have any phones to call someone, even if we had, there would be no reception here on that island", Elliott thought out loud. "And what if one of us swims away and gets help?", Dani suggested. Elliott shook his head. "The ocean is too large, there is no way you can find this tiny island again. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack", he reasoned. "And what are we going to do now?", Dani asked. "We don't have another choice; we have to wait until he is strong enough to make it to the next coast with our help. Then, we will take care of the rest", the male selkie suggested. "My sister is a physiotherapist; I always assisted her at work with people who learned how to walk again. Maybe I could help Finn to make his muscles work again…", she offered. Elliott beamed. "That would be awesome of you! What other hidden talents do you have?" Dani blushed slightly. The male selkie took her by the hand and dragged her over to Finn. "Listen, Finn, we will get you out of here. But for that, we need to work together", Elliott explained. Finn nodded. "Good. First, we need to work on your muscles, but don't worry, I will help you with that…", Dani winked.

Finn got stronger day by day. While Dani helped him with his exercises, Elliott explored the ocean, trying to find a shorter way to the next coast, but he never swam too far away, and also caught some food for them on his way back. Although Dani was a little experienced after she had assisted her sister at work and her methods made an impact, they were aware that they needed to bring Finn to a hospital as soon as they arrived at the coast. "So, Finn, tell me about yourself", Dani said to him while she was giving him a massage. "To be honest, I don't remember much. There are only some blurry memories in my head", he admitted. "Tell me about them. The more we know about you, the better we can help you. You don't have to if you feel uncomfortable, though", the female selkie assured him. Finn frowned. Those people were nice to him all the time and he could tell that they really were on his side. He knew that he could trust them. "There was this woman in my dreams…her eyes were brown like hazel and so was her hair. She was stunning. She somehow helped me wake up…", Finn remembered. "Do you know her name?", Dani asked. "Yes, yes I do. She told me right before I woke up. It's Rachel", he answered. Dani's eyes went wide and she stopped massaging Finn's limbs. "Hold up. Rachel…as in Rachel Berry?", she asked carefully. Finn scratched his head. "Yeah, that really sounds familiar to me", he admitted. Realization dawned on the selkie. "It's you! You are Finn Hudson, the guy who went missing after that tsunami!", she exclaimed. At this moment, Elliott surfaced in his human-form. "Dani? Why are you shouting? Everything all right?", he asked apprehensively and quickly went over to them. "Elliott, this is Finn Hudson! You know, Finn, as in Kurt's stepbrother!", Dani said excitedly. Elliott gaped at him. "No way! Why didn't we realize that sooner?", he gasped. Finn frowned, confused. "Kurt? I know that name from somewhere…", he mumbled. "Of course, you do! He is your bro, man!", Elliott laughed. "Our world really is a village", he muttered to himself. Dani sat down next to Finn. "When Santana and I were a couple, she used to talk about you a lot to overcome your apparent death. Sometimes, she was even crying herself to sleep because she thought you were dead, she even broke down in your high school's choir room after she sang _If I die young_ ", she recounted. Finn cocked his eyebrows. Slowly, his memories came back to him. Santana was that Latina with anger problems, right? "Santana? Are you sure you are talking about Santana Lopez?", he asked incredulously. Dani nodded, sad. "She may be rough on the edges but is soft inside." Finn frowned. "And what about the others? What about Rachel?", he asked. "They were all devastated, but Rachel still refuses to believe that you are dead", Elliott explained. Finn got up with shaky legs. "I have to go to her", he said, but his legs gave in and he fell back to the ground. Dani patted his shoulder. "You are too weak, Finn. You need to be strong enough to swim some miles, in the worst case without a pause. Even though I have super strength, I can't carry you the whole way, especially not as a seal", she said softly. Finn sighed deeply. "But Rachel…" "Rachel wouldn't want that you overstrain yourself", Elliott supported Dani. "Only a few more days intensive physiotherapy with the best therapist in the world and then we will leave, okay?" Dani playfully boxed Elliott in the shoulder. "Best therapist in the world, heh? Don't exaggerate, dork!", she laughed. "Don't hide your light under a bushel, Danataya", Elliott teased her. Dani snorted, feigning annoyance. "You know how much I hate my atrocious full name!", she chuckled. Finn amusedly looked back and forth between the two selkies. They had been doing that a lot, lately. Was there something going on between those two? He loudly cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to disturb you two lovebirds, but we are getting off talk", he said. Dani and Elliott quickly jumped apart. "Lovebirds? No offence, Dani, but that's gross! You are like a sister to me, and besides, I prefer men and you prefer women", Elliott stammered, laughing nervously. "Yeah…", Dani agreed halfheartedly. Finn eyed them. That wasn't really convincing. "A few more days, okay, Finn?", she said, changing the topic. Finn nodded. "A few more days", he mumbled to himself.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

After two days of intensive exercising, Dani decided to try swimming with Finn. When Dani was busy putting on sunscreen ('What? Only because I'm a selkie, that doesn't mean I'm immune to getting sunburnt', Dani once explained, laughing), he decided to test the waters concerning Starchild. "Sooo…you and Elliott…do you like him?", he asked carefully. Dani smiled. "Of course I do. He is like a brother to me" Finn cocked his eyebrows. That was not working. He needed to be less subtle. "Just the two of us talking…you like him more than that, don't you?", he asked her, grinning goofily. Dani flinched slightly, something, that wasn't unnoticed by Finn. She laughed nervously. "For the hundredth time: I prefer women. Even if I liked him like that, who says that he would requite these feelings? He is still not over Kurt and I am still not over Santana…", she mumbled. Finn looked up, surprised. "Elliott was crushing on Kurt? What a small world…", he mumbled, shaking his head. Dani nodded. "But Kurt only had eyes for Blaine, and they were engaged as well", she explained. Finn looked Dani straight in the eyes. "So you admit that you like him?", he wanted to know. Dani closed the bottle of sunscreen and quickly waddled farther into the water. "We should get started now, okay?", she suggested, her voice was wavering a bit. Finn frowned. He had a lot of work to do to set up those two.

Later that day, him and Elliott were roasting the fish the selkie had caught over the bonfire while Dani went for a swim. "Dude, what do you think about Dani?", Finn queried. "Dani…she is amazing. She is my best friend, no, she is like the sister I never had…", Elliott smiled. Finn facepalmed inwardly. Freaking friend zone! It was hard to escape the friend zone, especially the bff-zone. Kurt could attest that; he needed a whole year with Blaine. This set up thing was harder than expected. "But is there…more between you?", Finn asked. Elliott frowned. "What do you mean?", he wanted to know. "Do you crush on her?", Finn blurted out. Elliott stared at him. "Of course not! I told you, I don't like her like that. We are just friends and I don't want to ruin that friendship", the selkie sighed. "So, you like her, and you are too scared she wouldn't requite those feelings?", Finn asked. Elliott sighed deeply. "Under different circumstances, I would dare to ask her out. But I have so much to lose right now. You see, people like us are already outsiders in our society because of what we are. My life had been even harder because of my sexuality. My parents didn't approve of me being bisexual. They think that I shouldn't give the humans another reason to hate me. After I graduated from high school, I left my home and never returned. Dani is like family to me. I told her everything about me, I cried, and she just held me in her arms, soothing me. She was there when I was at my worst. She was there when I was heartbroken. She means the world to me, she is all I have at the moment", Elliott admitted. Finn patted the other guy's shoulder. "I'm sorry, dude. I didn't know that", he mumbled bashfully. The male selkie smiled faintly. "It's okay, man. I am flattered that you wanted to set us up, but I am happy right now. Why do we even have to change things if they are okay like that?", he said. Finn nodded. Maybe he was right.

Rachel awoke after her alarm went off. She yawned and got up. Now, that Finn had left the place where he was trapped, where was he? She had stopped dreaming about him after that incident. Did he die? Or was he still alive? Rachel sighed deeply. She needed to keep on believing in Finn. He was not dead; she could feel it. No matter what all the others said, she would keep on waiting for him.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity to Finn, Dani and Elliott decided that he was ready to travel. Finn was beyond excited. "I can't wait to see Rachel again!", he said, again and again. Dani rolled her eyes. "Stop talking about Rachel! I'm so glad you can't breathe underwater so that we don't have to hear your talking", she groaned while she put her belongings into her waterproof bag. "Sorry…", Finn mumbled. Elliott laughed. "Leave him alone, Dan. You were just as excited when I gave you the guitar signed by Miley Cyrus on your last birthday", he teased her. Dani grimaced and boxed him in the shoulder. "That's not the same, you know that!", she protested, laughing. Elliott winced. "Oh crap, Dani, you have super-strength, remember?", he reminded her and rubbed his shoulder, chuckling. The three Mers went into the water and Dani and Elliott changed into their seal forms. After they had changed, the three of them submerged and started swimming.  
Soon, the trio met a fishing boat. Finn carefully swam over to the boat without being seen and eavesdropped the fishermen's conversation. "As her birthday present, my youngest daughter wants to go to a concert in Sydney to see Beyoncé. I really don't know how I can get last minute tickets, man. Those concerts are sold out for months", a bald, older man grumbled with a thick Australian accent. Another man in his mid-twenties laughed. "What do you expect? Beyoncé is a pop-icon, everyone wants to listen to her music: tweens, teens, young adults, my grandma…Sometimes, I even use her music to masturb…" The elder man loudly cleared his throat. "Not appropriate, Stu!", he said, disgusted. Finn bit back his laughter. The younger fisherman bowed his head. "But there is this opening musician in her tour who is awesome. That black girl is really talented, the media is swooning over her. From the wallflower of Ohio to a true pop star, they wrote", he remembered. "And what's her name? Maybe I could get my daughter some tickets of her concert instead…", the elder fisherman thought out loud. Stu frowned. "I don't know. Her name has something to do with cars. I think it was Mercedes?", he thought out loud. Finn gasped. Black girl? Ohio? Mercedes? It was highly probable that they were talking about Mercedes Jones. Finn smiled. He knew how hard Mercedes fought to make it big in the music industry. She really deserved it. "And Mercedes is also friends with that woman, Rachel Cherry or something, who starred in "That's so Rachel". Her TV-series was a flop, do you remember?", Stu laughed. The other man snorted. "Of course! The entire US was talking about that miserable TV-series. Those people weren't even trying. But dude, I think her name's Berry." Finn's eyes went wide. Rachel had an own TV-series? And it had been a flop? She must have been devastated. Crap, a lot of things happened during his coma. The men looked down their fishing nets. "We won't catch much more than we have now. Let's head back to Darwin", the elder man suggested. Finn frowned. Darwin. He knew that city from somewhere. So that's where the next coast was. After the men had left, Dani and Elliott surfaced and changed to their human forms. "What did you find out?", Dani wanted to know. "Apparently, Mercedes is a big pop star now, but Rachel's show flopped", he recounted what he had heard. Elliott frowned. "Yes, Kurt was telling me that Rachel moved to California for the production of her series. But after that, Dani and I went to the ocean and since then, we didn't have any devices to check the news or any human contact" Finn nodded. "And the guys also said that they wanted to head back to Darwin", he told the selkies. Dani cocked her eyebrows. "Darwin? That's in the north of Australia as far as I know. At least we know where we are now. It's a good sign that we met a fishing boat, that means we are not so far away anymore", she reasoned. The male selkie whistled. "Australia? Awesome! Maybe we are going to meet some kangaroos", he joked. Finn's eyes widened. "Really?", he gasped, not getting the joke. Dani laughed. "Guys! We should get moving now! Maybe we are going to be in Australia by tomorrow", she told her friends. Elliott grinned. "Of course, Ma'am." The two selkies changed back into their seal forms, Finn held on to them and together, they continued their journey.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

It took them two more days to reach Darwin because Finn, still not used to move that much, needed to pause a lot although Dani and Elliott more or less carried him and the female selkie had super strength. Finally, the three friends could see land and lights, and the water got shallower. "We did it, guys!", Finn said excitedly when he dragged himself to the shore of a deserted beach. He high-fived with the seals' flippers and the two selkies barked happily before they changed into their human forms. "Good job, Dani! I don't know what we would've done without your powers", Elliott praised his companion. Dani grinned. "It was teamwork, Starchild. We are a great team", she said and put her arm around Starchild's shoulders. Finn balled his fists and dried off his tail. After he changed, he got up, but he swayed on his feet. Quickly, Elliott and Dani both put a hand around his waist, supporting him. "You know, I could carry Finn with my pinky finger only", Dani commented. The guys laughed. "That would be a little bit suspicious. How could we explain that a tiny blonde can carry a giant?", Elliott chuckled. Dani's eyes narrowed. "Who are you calling tiny?! I'm five foot three!", she pouted. Finn defensively lifted his hands. "Okay, okay, you are not tiny. Are you happy now?", he asked jokingly. Dani nodded, contented. "Very."

On their way to the next hospital, they made up a story to explain the whole thing. According to their version, Finn had been washed ashore on an island and bumped his head. Dani and Elliott, who were travelling around with their boat, found him, took care of him and brought him to the next coast. They didn't mention that he was in a coma for almost two years because they still didn't know how Finn could survive. Although the doctors looked sceptic, they seemed to buy the story. Dani and Elliott nervously waited in the waiting room while the doctors examined Finn. "Shouldn't we call Rachel and Kurt or something?", Dani thought out loud. Elliott grimaced. "Do you know their phone numbers?", he asked her. Dani shook her head. She frowned. "Didn't those guys on the fishing boat mention that their friend Mercedes Jones was in Australia right now?", she remembered. The male selkie nodded. "Dani, you are a genius. But how do we get to Sydney with no money?", he wondered. Dani smirked and playfully smacked his shoulder. "We are selkies, remember?" Elliott rubbed his shoulder and grimaced. "Ow."

Mercedes sighed contentedly while she was walking down the private beach of her hotel. The climate in Sydney was milder than in Lima or New York and the beaches were gorgeous. Maybe she would stay there forever… She put off her jeans-shorts and her cardigan, went straight into the waves of the sea and submerged. She needed that time out after those hectic rehearsals with her back up singers and the dance routine. Swimming around helped her calm down, and the scenery underwater was so much better than the one in the lake of Lima. She had a lot of time now, that Beyoncé was rehearsing, maybe she could swim to the Great Barrier Reef everyone was talking about? Thanks to her tail, she was a fast swimmer; she could be there in no time.  
When Mercedes arrived at her destination, all she could do was stare. The Reef was stunning, and even more beautiful than on the pictures. Thousands of schools of fish which were more colorful than a rainbow where swimming around aimlessly, bright corals could be seen everywhere, clownfish which were bright orange were gaping at her and there were underwater plants she had never seen before in her life. Some playful dolphins were swimming to her direction, nudging her amicably. The mermaid smiled. Brittany would have loved them. Suddenly, Mercedes saw something familiar. Something blue disappearing between some corals. Was that…the end of a tailfin? Another merperson? Gwen had explained to the gleeks that merpeople were extremely rare. Mercedes swam over to where the tailfin had disappeared. The other merperson turned around, and grinned. _-Surprise!-_ , Kurt said. _-Kurt?-,_ Mercedes asked, surprised, and hugged him. _-I really wanted to see the Great Barrier Reef and check if it was really that exciting!-_ , Kurt said, still grinning. _-Sooo…you are here to see that Reef and not your bestest friend in the world?-_ , Mercedes asked incredulously. Kurt smiled broadly. _-Someone doesn't understand jokes. But to be honest, I'm here because of Rachel-_ Mercedes looked around. _-Is Rachel also here? I can't see her-_ , she wondered. Kurt grimaced. _-No, she stayed at her hotel room because she is still jetlagged. I didn't want to let her fly by herself, so I came with her.-_ he answered.

_-Flashback-_

_"Australia? Are you nuts?", Kurt said to Rachel while she was busy packing her suitcase. "I can't explain it to you, but I feel like I need to be there, now. Besides, the school is closed anyway because of the holidays", she answered quickly. Kurt opened his mouth, but Rachel raised her finger, cutting him off. "Don't even try to talk me out of this. I am 21 years old and I am a grown-up woman, I can do whatever I want to", she said, sullen. Kurt incredulously watched her while she threw some more clothes into her bags. "Let me guess: It has something to do with Finn, right?", he asked carefully. Rachel stopped in her tracks. "I really don't know", she admitted and sat down on her bed. "But I think it's highly probable. I need to find out whether my intuition is right or not. I don't want to regret it one day…", she sighed. Kurt frowned. He knew how stubborn Rachel could be if she wanted something. "So you want to leave tomorrow?", he asked. Rachel nodded. "I even booked my ticket and a hotel in Sydney, so there is no turning back. Besides, Mercedes is also there because of her tour. Maybe I could check on her." Kurt sighed. "Well, let's head to the Outback, then", he said, defeated. Rachel cocked her eyebrow. "We? That's not necessary, Kurt. I don't need a babysitter", she pouted. "Yes, I know, but you are one of my best friends, I would never forgive myself if something happened to you. This way, I can also surprise Mercedes, it had been a while since she left. And Blaine also wants some bro time with Sam and the guys, he won't even notice I'm gone", Kurt said. Rachel sighed deeply and threw her hands up. "Fine, I'm giving up!" Kurt excitedly jumped to his feet. "Well, then, I have to start packing, prepare some fabulous, Australian looking outfits. This is so exciting!", he gushed. Rachel smiled to herself. Actually, a long journey like that without company would've been kind of boring. She was somewhat glad Kurt decided to join her._

_-End of Flashback-_

Mercedes quirked her eyebrows. _-We need to keep an eye on her, she had been acting weird since Finn's disappearance-_ , she said. Kurt nodded. _-Yes, you are right. She claimed that she had been talking to Finn in her dreams and I think that her sudden interest in Australia has something to do with Finn as well…-_ , he thought, worried. Mercedes frowned. _-I think we should check on her-_ , she suggested. The two friends were about to turn around and leave when they heard some barking. A seal was swimming to their direction, looking excited. But not just any seal. Kurt's eyes widened. _-Elliott?-_ , he said, stunned. Mercedes turned to the selkie. _-Wait, Elliott? As in Elliott "Starchild" Gilbert? That guy who got beaten up back then?-_ , she said. Kurt nodded. _-What a coincidence!-_ , he said. Elliott swam over to Kurt and nudged him towards the surface. _-Okay, okay, I don't know why you are so excited!-,_ he laughed. _-Ermm, Kurt? He can't hear us…-,_ Mercedes reminded him. _-Oh, I forgot that-_ , Kurt grimaced. After the three of them surfaced, Elliott changed back into his human form. "Guys, I really need to tell you something!", Elliott said breathlessly. "Yes, and I'm fine too, thank you for asking, Elliott", Kurt answered sarcastically. Mercedes just laughed. "Sorry, man, but that is really, really important. Will you just listen, please?", Elliott pleaded. The other two nodded obediently. The selkie sighed contentedly. "Thank you. Well, a lot of stuff happened when Dani and I left. We swam around the globe and so on, but some weeks ago, we stumbled over someone. Guess who it was!", he said excitedly. Kurt rolled his eyes. "Elliott, you know how much I hate guessing. Just spit it out, already!", he whined. Elliott took a deep breath. "We found Finn, your brother. He is alive and he is fine, the doctors confirmed that when we brought him to the next hospital. He will stay there for a few days, though. At the moment, Dani is with him", Elliott broke the news to them. Kurt's and Mercedes' eyes widened. "Finn is…alive?", Kurt gasped. "Oh my gosh!", Mercedes screamed excitedly and hugged Kurt. After the both of them calmed down a bit, Kurt frowned. "So Rachel was right, and we didn't believe her! We really owe her an apology", he mumbled. "But where had he been all the years?", Mercedes asked. "Dani and I found him on the bottom of the sea in the middle of the Indian ocean. He was apparently comatose for one year and eight months", the male selkie explained. Kurt nodded slowly. That would explain why he didn't reappear. Mercedes tugged their arms. "And what are we waiting for? We need to tell Rachel and then come over to him! Where is he?", she said excitedly. "Dani and I brought him to the closest coast we could find. He is in the hospital of Darwin now", Elliott explained. "Off we go!", she said and dove back in, her fin was splashing on the surface. Kurt followed suit. The selkie laughed. "Someone's excited!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, Elliott found them! Good job, Starchild...


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

After they picked Rachel up from the hotel, they headed straight to the beach. "Wouldn't it be faster if we took the airplane? Or public transportation?", Rachel asked. Elliott shook his head. "Swimming is faster, believe me. We have to look out for flights, then wait for our flight…but if we swim right now, we could be there in five, six hours without pause." Rachel sprinted to the shore. "Then what the hell are we waiting for? Lets' go!", she shouted, jumping right into a breaking wave. The other three laughed, then followed suit.

It finally took them five and a half hours to reach Darwin, mainly because Rachel insisted on swimming nonstop. Kurt, Mercedes and Elliott sighed contentedly when they reached the shore of Darwin. "My tail hurts like hell!", Mercedes complained. "Same here", Kurt moaned. "Oh, come on, guys! We will be at the hospital in no time!", Rachel, who had already dried off, said. "Actually, it's a fifteen-minute walk to the hospital", Elliott corrected her. Mercedes and Kurt groaned. Rachel glared at them. "Move your lazy bodies, I want to see Finn!", she whined.  
Twenty minutes later, the four friends arrived at the hospital. Dani, who was sitting in the waiting room, went straight to them. "Rachel? Kurt? What are you doing here?", she wondered. Mercedes shrugged. "Long story", she just said. "Where is he? Where is Finn?", Rachel asked excitedly. "Yes, where?", Kurt wanted to know as well.  
"Calm down, guys. Finn is sleeping now. Do you really want to disturb him?", Dani said. Rachel nodded eagerly. The female selkie laughed. "I totally get that, but you need to let him rest. He swam a lot of miles with his still weakened body, he really needs to sleep now", she said softly. Rachel sighed deeply. "Okay…It's not like I waited almost two years for him to come back…", she mumbled, disappointed. Kurt took her hand and lead her to the waiting room. "We can wait for him to wake up, okay? It's already midnight, we also need to rest a little", he suggested. Rachel nodded, suppressing a yawn. "Alright…"

After some hours, Rachel, Mercedes and Dani fell asleep on the guy's laps. Elliott spotted the wedding ring on Kurt's finger. "Soo…you and Blaine got married?", he queried. Kurt nodded, smiling faintly. "It was Sue's and Brittany's crazy idea; it wasn't even planned." "But before I left, you indicated that it would be over", Elliott frowned. "Yes, and we broke up shortly after. Blaine got kicked out of NYADA, returned to Ohio and he and Dave Karofsky became a couple", Kurt grimaced. "Ouch.", Elliott laughed. "But obviously, it didn't stay like that", the selkie winked. "Yes. There was a turning point after Sue trapped us in a fake elevator and a creepy Jigsaw version of her in a tricycle forced us to kiss, even our powers couldn't break down the elevator doors." Elliott cocked his eyebrows. Kurt just shook his head. "Don't even ask, I don't know what was going on in this woman's head. Anyway, these were the longest hours in my life, after that Surfboard incident or when I was trapped in Sebastian's pool, of course", Kurt said, smiling. "But to be honest: it was less bad because Blaine was also there. And now, we are married"  
He nudged his friend. "And how about your love life?", he asked curiously. "There is no love life", Elliott admitted. Kurt compassionately patted his shoulder. "Don't worry. Maybe, the right one is just around the corner. You are so lucky. Bisexual people have so many options. You can choose between men and women", he grinned.

"Kurt, I already told you-"

"-You tend to date men, yes I know. But you can try something new, dare something new, right?"

Elliott nodded slowly and looked down on Dani, who was sleeping. Kurt followed his gaze- and smirked. "You already like Dani, don't you?", he guessed. Elliott went silent. Kurt's eyes went wide. "Oh my gosh! Why didn't you try your luck, then?", he asked him, excited. The selkie shrugged. "Some things are not supposed to be, right? I think me and Dani being a thing is one of them.", he said, sad. Kurt patted his shoulder. "That's what I thought four years ago when I first met Blaine. We were best friends, but then he got together with my nemesis and it hurt a lot to see him together with Sebastian. Blaine also admitted he liked me back since an incident at Dalton, but he never had the courage to tell me. What would have been if he had confessed it to me sooner? We would've been a couple sooner and he never would have been in a relationship with Smythe. What I am trying to say is, that you don't have to wait, and you never know what life has in store for you. Don't make the same mistake as I did. Maybe you could lose her to another person, and believe me, that hurts a lot more than your current situation does.", Kurt warned him. Elliott nodded slowly. "I don't know whether I could cope with it if she turned me down", he admitted sheepishly. "But maybe she won't turn you down", Kurt whispered because Rachel turned around in her sleep, mumbling something intelligible. Elliott just shrugged helplessly.

At approximately seven am, so only one or two hours sleep for Kurt, the nurse woke up the five of them. "Finn's awake, you can see him now", she said, smiling softly. Kurt rubbed his eyes and yawned, Rachel, however, excitedly jumped up and sprinted to his room. "Where does that woman take the energy from?", Mercedes wondered and stretched her arms. Dani and Elliott just shrugged, tired themselves.  
Rachel cried the entire time she was with Finn, and Finn just held her in his arms without saying anything.  
Kurt, Mercedes, Dani and Elliott decided to give them some space and once again waited outside. "How did you even find Finn?", Mercedes asked the selkies, curious. "He was trapped underwater by an anchor, Dani and I freed him. That was shortly after he mysteriously woke up.", Dani explained. Kurt's eyes widened. "You probably saved Finn's life. How can we ever thank you for that?", he said. Elliott and Dani blushed. "It was no big deal, really", Dani answered, trying to hide her blush. "Yes, you would've done the same for us", Elliott added. When he was about to answer, Kurt suddenly remembered something. "Oh my gosh, I forgot to tell Dad and Carole about that!", he realized. He quickly retrieved his phone and sent a text to his parents. His dad answered immediately.

_Burt: Not funny, kiddo. You know how much I hate it if you tell bad jokes  
_

Kurt rolled his eyes. He turned around. "Excuse me, guys", he mumbled and went into Finn's hospital room. Rachel was sitting on Finn's lap, but in the meantime, she had stopped crying. However, both of their lips were swollen. Trying to ignore that detail, he went over to Finn's bed and took a photo with his phone.  
"What the hell, dude?", Finn frowned. Kurt turned on his heel and went to the door. "Sorry, guys. Continue with… whatever you were doing", he winked and left.  
"What were you just doing?", Elliott asked him, one eyebrow cocked. "My dad doesn't believe me with Finn, so I needed some evidence", Kurt answered, sending the photo to his dad per WhatsApp. Then, he sent the photo to the NDs WhatsApp Group. Soon, his phone didn't stop vibrating.

_Burt: Jesus Christ! Rachel was right about Australia? Where exactly are you now, kid, Carole and I are coming over!_

_Puck: MOTHAFUCKA! I swear to you princess if that pic is fake…_

_Santana: Finnessa is freaking alive? like resurrected from the dead? what the actual fuck!_

_Quinn: Resurrection is impossible, San. OR DID HE REALLY REINCARNATE, KURT?_

_Artie: In this world, everything is possible. If I can move my tail, then Finn can totally reincarnate, btw, that's great, man!_

_Brittany: Is Finn an angel? A fallen angel? That is soooo cool!_

_Mike: No, Brittany, I doubt that. There is no such thing. And Finn's back, that made my day :DDDDDDDD_

_Tina: I want details. HOW is this possible? WHERE is he? CAN WE SEE HIM?!_

_Blaine: Kurt told me he wanted to fly to Aussie with Rachel, but I didn't take him serious. Now I regret that… BUT WE ARE SO COMING OVER, KURT! FINN IS MY FREAKING BROTHER IN LAW!_

_Sam: Finn's alive? And YAY, the outback! Can we meet Crocodile Dundee on our way back? That day seems to get better and better *_* *_*_

_Santana: There is no Crocodile Dundee dumbass… *facepalm*_

Kurt decided to put his phone on silent mode for a while, but he quickly texted his parents the address of the hospital. Then, he slipped his phone into his bag and went back to Finn and the others.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Burt and Carole came to the hospital the next day. In the meantime, Mercedes had to go back to Sydney because of the concert, and Dani and Elliott decided to make a sightseeing tour in Darwin, dragging a reluctant Rachel with them to give the family some alone-time.  
Carole rushed over to her son and hugged him tightly, tears were streaming down her face.  
"Finn, I thought I had lost you…", she sobbed.  
"No, I won't bite into the dust that easily, I promise, mom", Finn reassured her. "  
I'm there, mom, I'm there…" Burt also hugged his stepson. "Please, don't scare us like that anymore, bud. I don't know whether my heart would be strong enough to lose another beloved person", he said with tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Burt, I won't do that again", Finn answered softly. Kurt stood beside them, feeling awkward.  
Carole reached out for him.  
"Oh Kurt, we should've believed you and Rachel when you said he was alive", she sobbed and took him into her arms as well.  
Kurt smiled watery. Actually, it was Rachel who didn't stop believing until they found him. He felt bad because he had let her down and didn't believe her. He had been a horrible friend.  
The small family was staying like that, holding each other in their arms. After a while, Burt dried his eyes with a handkerchief. "Now, enough of being emotional. We have to be happy that Finn is fine. How about we go to a fancy steakhouse after Finn is out of here, my treat", he said. "But there will only be salad for you, dad", Kurt said sternly. Burt pouted, but the others all laughed.  
Finally, Carole addressed the elephant in the room. "How is that even possible? What exactly happened?", she asked the boys. Finn and Kurt paled. What were they going to do now?  
Tell lies?  
Or stick to the truth?  
Kurt nervously cleared his throat. "Actually, there is something we need to tell you", he said, fiddling with his scarf. Finn threw him an alarmed glance. - _Dude, what are you doing? Do you really think it's the right time to tell them the truth?- ,_ he asked Kurt. - _I'm tired of lying to my parents about an important part of my life, Finn. And how can you explain what happened? It's time to come clean with them, they deserve it-_ , Kurt answered. Finn sighed. - _Fine, I trust you with that. Just…find the right words so that they don't freak out and send us to the next zoo. I'm not so keen on being put into a cage with kangaroos-_ , Finn thought nervously.  
"Kurt? What do you want to tell us?", Burt asked his son, concerned. Kurt took a deep breath. That was the moment, after three years of keeping that secret. "In my senior year, something happened to me. One year later, Finn was dragged into this mess as well. The truth is, Finn and I are m…"  
" _Kurt_ ", his dad cut him off. "We already know", Carole said softly. Finn's eyes widened. "Wait…what?", he called out. Burt chuckled. "Do you really think we are that dumb, kids?", he said.  
Kurt just stared at them with an open mouth. "But…how?", he wondered. "Two years ago, when I was tidying up the attic, I noticed that some things from Elizabeth's box were missing", Carole recounted.  
"Yes, and her diary was among those things. We did the math and contacted her three friends", Burt told them. "They told us everything that happened so far", Carole added. She and Burt exchanged glances – and started laughing.  
"Boys, you were not as subtle as you thought you were", Carole giggled. "Do you remember when Kurt got sick and froze the living room?"  
"Yes, or when he somehow lost his memories? And you tried to hide it from us? Come on", Burt laughed.  
Kurt and Finn exchanged glances. - _Is this a joke or something? Are they serious?-,_ Finn asked. - _No, I'm afraid it isn't. Our parents were just making fun of us-_ , Kurt answered incredulously.  
"Oh, and boys? We are aware that you can lead conversations in your heads, so please stop it now", Carole said and winked. - _Oh, crap-_ , Finn thought. Burt leaned back on his chair. "Now that the cat is out of the bag, would you mind telling us what exactly happened? I'm dying to hear the full, true story", he said. Finn grimaced. "It's a long story, actually. Where do I begin?"  
"We have enough time. Just start from the beginning", Burt suggested. Finn leaned back on his hospital bed. "It all started with the tsunami. You already know how I lifted the little girl into the rescue boat and bumped my head. After that, I…"

"You were in a coma for one year and eight months? That's impossible to survive without someone nursing you", Carole commented after Finn was done with the story. Kurt frowned. "I already asked Gwen how that's possible. She still doesn't know, but she is working on a theory", he said. "And the two kids who saved you, what are they again?", Burt asked, scratching his head. "Selkies, dad. They can turn into seals at will", Kurt explained. "Well…we are living in a crazy world, aren't we?", he mumbled, quirking his eyebrows. "Those friends of yours, they saved Finn. We probably should invite them for dinner or do something to thank them", Carole thought out loud. The others nodded in agreement.  
Carole squeezed Finn's forearm which didn't have an IV. "I'm so glad you are back, Finn", she said and kissed him on the forehead. "Ouch. Mom, you just hurt me", Finn complained. Carole let go of Finn's hand. "There was a sting right there where you touched me." Burt looked around. "Do you have any other injuries, bud? Shall we get the nurse or a doctor? Kurt, go get someone", he said apprehensively. Carole cleared her throat. "I'm a nurse too, just for your information" she told the other three, took Finn's forearm and examined it.  
"There is a tiny spot, like someone inserted a needle or something", she explained. "Where have I seen something like that before…", Burt mumbled, thoughtful. "Maybe a mosquito or something did that?", Kurt thought out loud. "No… that would be swollen or something, or there would be a pimple. No, that looks clean like…someone did it on purpose", Carole realized.  
Burt clapped his hands. "Now, I remember. I also had something like that when I was comatose back then. The docs said they gave me an IV to nourish me and stuff…", he trailed off when realization dawned on him. "Someone nursed me all the time?", Finn said, stunned. "But who?"  
"Dani mentioned that humans were not able to dive that deep, where they found you, so we can cross them out", Kurt reasoned. "So, there was another mermaid around? Why didn't she or he show up?", Finn asked, disappointed. He would like to know who took care of him and thank him or her for that. "We don't know, honey. But maybe that person had a good reason", Carole answered.

_-One year and nine months earlier-_

_Sebastian and Hunter jumped into the moonpool of Cairns, Australia and resurfaced when their tails appeared. Sebastian frowned. "What is it, darling?", Hunter asked his boyfriend and pecked him. "I don't know…I somehow have a déjà-vu whenever that happens" After the two of them changed because they wanted to do some research for Hunter's university- project, Sebastian started to dream sequences that seemed…familiar. Like an episode in a series he had seen before. Sebastian shook his head. He didn't want to stress his boyfriend with his problems. "But forget it, it's not that important", he said, kissing his boyfriend. Hunter sighed. "You see, I still feel bad after what I've done to the Warblers back then. I am a monster", he whispered. Sebastian took him in his arms. "No, you are not. That's why you wanted to start studying medicine to help other people. We can both start over here in Australia, and you had a good start. You are on top of your class and soon, you are going to be the best doctor the world has ever seen", he mumbled lovingly. "You are not bad yourself, Smythe", Hunter whispered. "You will send the bad people into jail, just like your dad." Sebastian's smile was forced. Hunter thought that he was an angel or something. But boy, he was so wrong. He leaned back on the edge of the moonpool. "Hey, we are here to forget everything about our dark pasts, right? A new beginning here in Australia. Good that our parents are stinking rich to afford that", Sebastian laughed, changing the topic. Before Hunter could say anything, Sebastian let go of the edge. "Race you!", he exclaimed and submerged. Hunter rolled his eyes, laughing. "I'm going to win, Smythe!", he shouted and followed suit._

_The two boyfriends sped through the ocean, not realizing they were swimming further away from the coast. Hunter stopped in his tracks after having seen something. He dove further down, Sebastian followed him, frowning. There was a guy on the ground. But not just any guy. Sebastian gasped and bubbles escaped his mouth. Finn Hudson? He was like them? Hunter examined him, realizing that an anchor was trapping the unconscious merman. Then, he gasped when he spotted a nasty looking bruise on the back of his head. He knew that kind of injury. During his studies, he had assisted some doctors when they treated comatose patients. Finn must be in a coma or something. And he looked so pale and famished. He needed help, and he needed it now. Hunter tugged Sebastian by the arm and motioned him to swim to the surface. "What the heck is up with Hudson?", Sebastian wanted to know. "He is in a coma, and he really needs help.", Hunter told him. "Then what are we waiting for? We need to bring him to a hospital!", Sebastian said. Hunter shook his head. "That would be too risky. If the doctors find out what he is, it only will be a matter of time for them to find out that we are like him. If that happens, we are screwed as well" Sebastian nodded. He had seen enough Sci-Fi and Supernatural movies to know what happened to people like them. "Okay, and what are we going to do, now?", Sebastian asked him. "We need to leave him down there, otherwise, humans could find him. I will try to get some things from the hospital where I do my internship. Those people trust me, so they gave me almost all keys. You stay with him and I will swim back." Sebastian nodded and Hunter dove back in, speeding back to the shore._

_From that day on, Sebastian and Hunter took care of Finn, bringing him closer to the Australian coast, but not too close, nourishing him with a portable, waterproof PIV Hunter stole from the hospital, and taking turns to give him a mouth-to-mouth once per day. They decided not to free him from the anchor because he could float to the surface and wash ashore. The students were both grateful that they didn't live at home, otherwise, their parents would grow suspicious because of their daily absence. "When will he wake up?", Sebastian asked Hunter when they once again were in the moonpool. "According to my calculations, Finn's brain activity gets higher day by day. He is going to wake up soon, of that I'm sure", he reassured his boyfriend. "And what if he doesn't? What if he dies?", Sebastian said anxiously. Hunter shook his head. "That won't happen, okay?", he said, determined and tugged Sebastian's arm. "We should go to him now. I have to change the needle of the PIV, that's why I removed it" Sebastian nodded. "Good, we need to make sure he doesn't die", he whispered under his breath. "Did you say anything, Seb?", Hunter asked. He shook his head. "Let's go."_

_When the two of them arrived at the spot where Finn was hidden, they saw him, awake and swimming away with two seals. Hunter motioned Sebastian to follow them. The trio swam to a small island, Hunter and Sebastian stayed in the water far away from the shore. They gasped when the two seals turned into humans. "What the hmpf…!" Hunter quickly covered Sebastian's mouth. "Shht! We need to be quiet or else, they could see us", the other merman whispered. "And what are we going to do, now?", Sebastian asked. Hunter looked over to the three people. They were laughing and chatting amicably. He sighed, a little sad. "We are going to leave, Seb. Our work is done", he decided. He had expected Sebastian to protest, but he just nodded in agreement. "That seems reasonable. Those guys will help him" Hunter quirked his eyebrows. "You agree? Why?", he said, not believing his ears. Sebastian sighed deeply. "Let's say, I have a dark past with his stepbrother. I did some horrible things to him, and I can't even remember them. I think Finn doesn't want to have anything to do with me…", he mumbled. Hunter patted his shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. We all make mistakes, that's what makes us human…well…more or less…", he frowned when he looked down his straw-colored tail. "Let's get going, okay? We can go to your favorite bar or something. Other than in the US, you are allowed to drink something even if you are twenty", Hunter tried to lighten the mood. Sebastian sighed, but followed suit when Hunter submerged and sped away._

_-End of Flashback-_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Burt and Carole knew the boys' secret!
> 
> And Sebastian and Hunter found Finn and saved his life... You didn't see that coming, right? :P


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

-Some weeks later-

Puck decided to throw a resurrection party for his best friend, and the NDs agreed.

Right now, the gleeks plus Dani and Elliott were preparing everything for the big party. Carole and Burt were willing to spend the weekend in Columbus to let their kids celebrate (If I see one dirty spot, boys, you are in trouble, Burt had warned them before he left).  
"You are so copying Arrow. Tommy Merlin exactly did the same for Oliver Queen", Sam said while he was putting some balloons to the chandelier of the Hudmel basement with his powers.  
"Nerd", Quinn said under her breath.  
Puck shrugged. "Arrow is dope, and The Flash too, right, Hummel?", he said, nudging Kurt. "I don't think so", he answered.  
That Flash guy kind of reminded him of Sebastian, that's the reason why he didn't like those series.  
Dani was standing next to Santana, helping her sorting out some alcohol bottles. "Sooo…you and Brittany are…married?", The selkie broke the silence. Santana nodded. "Look, Dani, I'm sorry how it ended", Santana mumbled bashfully. "It's okay, Santana, it really is. From the beginning on, I knew that you were not over your ex, but I agreed anyway. I was a wreck when you broke up, but then I did this journey with Elliott and I had time to heal", Dani explained. "I'm over it, now, and I'm happy you are happy.", she said softly, thoughtfully glancing to Elliott who just hanged up some chains of lights with Rachel, Mercedes and Tina.  
Santana followed her gaze- and smirked. She was a really observant person, and she was able to do the math quickly. "You like Starchild, don't you?", she realized. "Shhht!", Dani said, looking around paranoidly. "Don't even try to deny it, Dan. That was not the first time I caught you. I thought you preferred women?", she frowned. "Yes, I do, but I'm still bi. I can feel attracted to men as well", the blonde mumbled, putting some Pina Colada bottles out of the box.  
"What are you waiting for? Make a move!", Santana urged. Dani shook her head. "That's out of question. Our friendship is too valuable to risk it. Elliott is my best buddy", she explained. Santana cocked her eyebrows. "Friends with…benefits?", she smirked naughtily. Dani boxed her. "Of course not!", she hissed. Santana rubbed her arm. "You really need to control your powers", she murmured.

Santana dragged Kurt away from their friends. "  
You told us that Sue trapped you in an elevator to get you and Hobbit back together and it kind of worked. What did she do?", she asked him. Kurt cocked his eyebrow. "Why do you want to know that?", he asked, skeptical. The Latina mermaid shrugged. "Just out of interest. Spill, Lady Lips", she demanded. "Please", she added reluctantly.  
Kurt rolled his eyes and recounted how Sue trapped them in the fake elevator.  
Santana excitedly rubbed her hands. "That sounds like a perfect plan. And if it has worked once, it will work again", she mumbled to herself. Kurt put his hands on his hips. "Santana Maria Lopez, what are you up to?", he asked sternly. Santana threw him an unimpressed glance. "That is none of your business, Hummel. If you excuse me, I need to take care of the snacks", she said and rushed back downstairs. Kurt confusedly looked after her.  
The Latina went straight to Finn and pulled him by the collar, away from their friends. "We need to talk, giant Jesus", she said, referring to the resurrection theory. "What is it, Santana?", he whined. "Listen, I know that you want to set up Dani and Elliott, don't try to deny it. I'm going to help you because Dani still means something to me", she admitted. Finn's face fell. "But Elliott doesn't want to be together with…" "-Please, Frankenteen. I know a lot more about love than you will ever know. Move your lazy ass, then I will tell you what my plan is", she said. Finn reluctantly followed the Latina up the stairs.

The party was in full swing when Brittany took Elliott and Dani by the arms and dragged them away from the others. "What is it, Brittany? Is there a problem?", Elliott asked her. The blonde nodded. "Some chains of lights are broken, and we need to replace them. I think there are some more in the storage room on the first floor. Will you please go get them and then help me put them up?", she begged the selkies. Elliot nodded. "Of course, Britt" He took Dani's hand and the two of them went up the stairs.  
"Are you ok?", he asked his best friend. He had noticed that Dani acted somewhat…aloof around Santana's wife. Maybe she wasn't over the breakup like she claimed. "I'm fine, don't worry about me", Dani answered, trying to sound normal, but her voice was wavering a little. "You don't have to be fine, Dan. It's okay to be upset to see that your ex is happy with someone else", he said, somewhat bitterly. The female selkie frowned. Was he talking about her or himself?  
Dani squeezed his hands. "We are supposed to be over the both of them, right? We need to move on if we want to stay friends with them", she mumbled softly. The two friends arrived in front of the door. "Storage room", was written on the door. Dani and Elliott entered.  
"Did Brittany mention where the light chains are exactly?", Dani wondered. Elliott shook his head. "Nope. Let's go ask her, I can't find them", she said. The selkies turned around and wanted to leave, but the door was slammed shut. Elliott wanted to open it, but it was locked. "What the…", he stammered. Dani shooed him aside. "Let me try, I have super-strength", she reminded him. She frowned when she was unsuccessful as well. "Why doesn't it work?", the blonde wondered. "Help!", Elliott shouted, hammering against the door. "Give it up, Starchild. They are all downstairs at the party where the music is loud as hell. No one can hear you", Dani said. Suddenly, the TV over their heads Dani didn't notice, was turned on. "Did you do that?", she asked her friend. Elliott shook his head. "Nope, I didn't".  
A person with a white mask and a red wig appeared on the screen. "Well, hello there, Dani and Elliott", the person said. The voice was manipulated, and they couldn't tell who it was. "As you've noticed, you are trapped."  
Dani scoffed and rolled up her sleeves. "Trapped? That's it, I'm gonna kick the door open with my super-strength. Sorry in advance, Kurt and Finn." She jumped and kicked the door, but in vain. "Your powers won't help you much, I'm afraid. I'm sure you want to know why I did that, right?", the person asked. Again, Dani let out a scoff. "I will release you, but first, you need to kiss." Dani glared at the screen.  
"Wait, what?", Elliott gasped. "But I want a real kiss, not just a harmless peck. I want to see a lot of tongue involved!", the person instructed. "Gross!", both selkies exclaimed at the same time.  
The person crossed his/her arms. "Well, have a nice life in there, then. But I'm sure, you will change your minds, you two lovebirds. Don't fight the Delliott romance!" With that, the TV was turned off. Elliott sat down on the floor. "Delliott? That kind of sounds lame", he mumbled. Dani facepalmed.

"Blaine, have you seen Elliott?", Kurt asked his husband who was just chatting with Sam. Blaine shook his head. "Nope, haven't seen him for a while to be honest" Kurt furrowed his eyebrows. "Weird. He just disappeared…" Mercedes and Rachel rushed over to them. "Have you guys seen Dani?", Rachel asked their two friends. "She wanted to drink some shots with us, but then, she just disappeared", Mercedes added.  
"So did Elliott. It's been two or even three hours since I've seen him the last time", Kurt frowned. "Did they leave?", Blaine thought out loud. Rachel shook her head. "They would've told us. Besides, Elliott's car is still outside. I doubt that they left", she said. "We need to search them. Maybe they need help", Mercedes said and went upstairs. The three others followed suit.  
"Elliott! Dani!", Kurt shouted. The group of four was in the living room, but no one was there. "Let's search them upstairs", Rachel suggested.  
Kurt, Blaine, Rachel and Mercedes went up the stairs and stopped when they heard something. "Is this…coming from Finn's room?", Kurt asked incredulously. He carefully entered- and saw Brittany making out with a person with a mask and a wig. "God dammit, Britt!", he shouted, disgusted. The other three also entered, curious. "You are cheating on Santana shortly after you've married?", Mercedes asked incredulously. "Shame on you, Britt!", Rachel called out. "Don't dare to insult my wife like that!", the person said and put down her mask. Santana's face came into view.  
"What the hell? Is this some kind of kinky roleplay or something?", Blaine called out. Santana rolled her eyes. "No. Will you just leave right now?", she ordered her friends. Kurt defensively lifted his hands. "Good, we will leave. I don't care anyway what you are doing there, this is Finn's room, so have fun" He closed the door behind him and left with his friends. When they were about to go down the stairs, Rachel stopped in her tracks. "Wait…did you hear that?", she asked. Mercedes grimaced. "Santana's and Brittany's moaning? Yes, we can hear it loud and clear" The brunette mermaid shook her head. "No, not that. Something just fell down in another room" She went from door to door and eavesdropped. Kurt shook his head. "There is nothing, Rachel. Let's go back to…" Rachel stopped in front of the door of the storage room. "There!", she said triumphantly. Her three friends reluctantly followed her to the door of the storage room. Rachel carefully opened the door – and the four of them saw Dani and Elliott making out passionately.  
"What the…", Kurt gasped. When Dani and Elliott noticed that people were watching them, they quickly jumped apart. Santana appeared behind the four friends. "And I even unlocked the door hours ago after they had kissed. But apparently, they didn't want to leave" Dani got up, straightened her jeans and glared at the Latina. "It was you? You trapped us?", she asked incredulously. Santana smirked. "And it worked, right?", she asked, nudging her. Elliott got up as well, his dark hair was tousled. "That was not cool, San", he agreed, but couldn't hide his smile when Dani cuddled up to him.  
Kurt backed away, dragging Blaine with him. "I guess, we should leave those four lovebirds alone. But don't even dare to have sex in my bed. You can have the guest room or even Finn's, but mine is taboo", he threatened before he went down the stairs, Mercedes and Rachel followed suit. Dani grinned. "Soo, Starchild…where were we?", she asked, crashing her lips on his. The two stumbled to the guest room, kissing, and slamming the door shut. Santana laughed. "Come on, Britt, our job is done. I can't wait to jump you", she purred flirtatiously. "Me neither", Brittany said breathlessly and the two of them quickly went to Finn's room.

After a while, Kurt and Blaine sneaked up to the terrace. "Do you feel drunk?", Kurt asked his husband. The latter one shook his head. "Me neither although I had a few shots", Kurt admitted. They sat down on the porch with a blanket, snuggling against each other.  
Now, in March, it seemed to get warmer, but it still wasn't that warm to sit outside.  
"I can make a small fire with my hands to warm us up", Blaine offered. Kurt shook his head. "I think it's okay like that." The duo looked up the sky which was covered with many glittering stars. "So many things changed four years ago", Kurt mumbled. "I felt so lost with my powers and everything, and then, there was that whole thing with Sebastian", he remembered.  
"And then, all the others got turned into merpeople as well, that was crazy", Blaine added. "I thought that we were screwed, but actually, it was great like that. We could help out each other and I didn't have to keep my other side a secret from my friends anymore", Kurt sighed. "We met mermaid hunters like Brody, mad scientists like Dr. E. and even befriended selkies who are probably making out right now", Blaine chuckled.  
Kurt put his head in his hands, thoughtful. "What if Finn wasn't a merman? He would've drowned, right? His powers were kind of saving his life", he realized. Blaine squeezed his hand. "But he isn't dead, okay? He is fine and we are celebrating that…well…everyone does it his or her way…", he frowned when he heard Dani moaning because of the open window. Kurt pecked him on the cheek. I love you, Blaine. And I will always love you."  
Blaine pecked him right back. "I love you too", he whispered. The couple continued sitting on the porch like that, holding hands and looking up the half moon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really needed to do the Flash joke haha :,D


	30. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

"Soo…this was the story of the two boys whose lives where turned upside down?", seventeen-year-old Tracy asked Blaine. He nodded. "Aren't you too old to listen to that bedtime story?", he said, chuckling. Tracy shook her head. "I love it. You've been telling me that story since I was four", she smirked and coughed.  
"And if I'm sick, then I deserve that" Blaine laughed. "You little brat!", he said affectionately. "And did the boys find out who saved Finn's life?", Tracy wanted to know. Blaine shook his head, sad. "No, unfortunately, we… _they_ didn't", he said.

At that moment, Kurt entered the bedroom. "Hello, my most favorite people in the world", he greeted them and pecked both of them. He looked back and forth between Blaine and Tracy. "Let me guess, you are telling her the story about the two boys and their friends again who happen to have the same names as us and all our friends", he chuckled. "Yup, you caught us. I begged Daddy B to tell me the story", Tracy admitted, looking sheepish.  
"You can't let it be, right? But why do you love it that much, Trace?", Kurt asked her. The girl shrugged. "I don't know. I think fantasy stories are my guilty pleasure", she admitted and got up. "If you excuse me, I want to freshen up. That girl needs to be clean", she laughed, pointing at herself. Blaine got up us well. "And I have to get going, too, earn some money with my songs", he said.  
Now, that he was in his forties, he had stopped his work at Broadway, other than Rachel who was still working there as a director and scriptwriter. Anyway, Blaine was a famous singer-songwriter, now. Sometimes, he recorded his songs himself, sometimes, he let Mercedes, Santana, Tina, Rachel or even Quinn (if she wasn't too busy as a successful attorney) sing his songs to give them some feminine touch. Currently, he was working on a duet with a male and a female singer about an abusive relationship.  
He thought hard.

As a music video, he wanted Brittany and Mike to perform a profound choreography instead of too much product placement. Or too much skin.

Kurt playfully smacked him. "Don't pretend we don't have millions of dollars on our accounts. You need to rest a little, gentleman", he told him. "Says the one who worked on his new fashion line three days straight without sleeping", he retorted.  
Just like Blaine, Kurt left Broadway to work on his fashion career, sometimes asking Mercedes for some female advice if she wasn't busy touring around the world. The people loved his chic fashion style and his pieces soon became best seller. Kurt threw his hands up. "Fine, go. But don't overwork yourself." Blaine pecked him on the cheek. "I won't, I promise" He turned on his heel and went straight to his working room.  
"Have a nice bath, sweetie. If you need something, you know where you can find me", Kurt said to his daughter and left her room. Tracy frowned. Why did her dads always say something like that? Shrugging, she went to her en-suite bathroom, towel and smartphone in hand. She pushed the holograph-button and called her three best friends.

"Hey, Trae. How is it going?", Barbara "Barbs" Hudson asked her, her holograph was showing her lying on her bed. With her black dyed hair, her dark clothes and her emo-like behavior, she was the bad girl among the four friends, much to Rachel's disdain.  
Rachel was a little disappointed that Barbs seemed to like football, ripped jeans and goth, not (pink) dresses, Broadway and glitter. "You know, still bad. The flu sucks", Tracy complained, coughing. "Don't complain, Trae. Our parents told us about the Corona Virus, which scared the crap out of them around the time we were born. People weren't even allowed to leave their houses because they were freaking afraid", Celestia "CeCe" Evans deadpanned.  
Tracy rolled her eyes.  
CeCe was the "Ms-Know-It-All" and nerd among them and always teased her friends with her intellect and facts. "Stop it, CeCe. You don't need to scare us with your horror stories", the holograph of Camilla Lopez-Pierce said, calm.  
Camilla was the most reasonable and mature among them, although she was the youngest. "What did you do all day?", she asked Tracy. "I asked Daddy B to tell me their story again", the dark-haired girl admitted. The three girls groaned. "Tracy, for the millionth time: that story is fictional, our parents used their names for the characters so that it felt more real", CeCe said slowly. The pale, blue eyed girl shook her head. "But that story is real, believe me. Have you ever seen your parents near the water? And did you forget when a mugger dragged me and Daddy K to a side street six years ago and that guy's gun was frozen all of a sudden?", Tracy recounted. Barbs frowned. "Well, that was weird, you are right. But that means nothing."  
"Trae, do you really want to say that our parents are actual mermaids? You need to grow up, okay?", Camilla told her. Tracy turned on the faucet of her bathtub and dumped some soap into the water. "I won't give up until I know the truth about our parents", she said stubbornly. CeCe sighed and played with her long, curly hair. "Even if you where right, then our parents have a good reason to keep quiet about that part of their lives. I mean, we are sixteen and you are seventeen, we are almost grown up. They would've told us", she reasoned. Tracy threw her hands up. "I'm giving up. What can I say when even my best friends don't believe me?", she sighed and put off her pajamas. Underneath, she wore a bikini so that she could continue chatting while she was taking a bath. She carefully went into the bathtub. "That's exactly what friends are for, Tracy Evangelina. To give you a reality-check", Camilla said sternly, hands on her hips. Tracy rolled her eyes and sank further into her bathtub. "Yes, I know. I'm sorry. I was just…" She trailed off when she suddenly felt something weird in her legs, like they were molding or something. She looked down- and gasped.  
Where were her legs?  
She could only see a tail, a tail of a fish.  
Her three friends, having witnessed the whole things, were speechless as well.  
"So…how the hell is this possible…?", CeCe gasped, stunned. "Our parents were telling us the truth all the time and we were too stupid to realize that…", Barbs mumbled, still shocked. Camilla paled. "Oh, crap. Mermaids do exist. And if Trae turned into one, we will be next...", she realized. "We are so screwed", Tracy echoed what everyone was thinking.

- _Fin_ -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo, that's it, guys, that series is officially over! To all the readers who made it to the epilogue: Thanks for reading all this, you are amazing!
> 
> I would be happy if you read my other stories too! See you next time, guys!
> 
> XOXO your Princess


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